


A Brother's Revenge

by Kenyancougar



Series: A Wounded Soul [2]
Category: Flashpoint (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 14:29:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7938157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenyancougar/pseuds/Kenyancougar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brother is seeking revenge on a certain sniper. His desire to get back at the man that killed his brother pulls Team One into a situation that they never would have imagined being possible. How will SRU's top Team get out of this one? **Disclaimer - I do not own Flashpoint, only my original characters and ideas.**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**This story starts just after S1 E3 "The Element of Surprise".**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - A Ghost From The Past**

Ed's head was pounding! The pain was so bad that he could't even get himself to open his eyes at the moment because he knew that the light that would invade was going to make it all the more painful. As he took a moment to try to breathe through the pain in his head his mind went back to try to find the cause of it. _Could it be a concussion_? he thought. But no, he didn't remember hitting his head, or his head being hit with anything. In fact the last thing he remembered was leaving the Goose with Greg. The Team had gone out, sans Sam, after the long day that they had had.

He sighed. Losing that kid in the gunfight had been hard for him. The poor kid should't have even been there! But he was, and now he was dead. Ed found himself wondering, yet again, if the kid could have been saved had Sam obeyed his orders and not gone barging in there with guns blazing. He hoped the stupid soldier would get his head on straight. Preferably sooner rather than later. He didn't like the fact that he had a man on his Team that had killed a teammate before, but he knew he had to push that aside. Clearly Braddock had been cleared or he wouldn't be walking free today.

Ed took a long minute to use sniper breathing to try to bring the pain in his head under control. He knew he had to open his eyes, to figure out what had happened. Finally, after several controlled breaths he chanced opening his eyes. They blinked rapidly as the light in the room assaulted his senses and the pounding in his head increased. Thankfully his vision began to clear after several attempts.

The first thing Ed noticed was that he was sitting on the floor against a cold, stone wall and his head was turned to his left. Ed saw a chain embedded in the wall and just beyond that he saw Greg. His boss and friend was sitting in the same position that he was, and Ed could see chains running from the wall to the shackles on Greg's wrists. He lifted his head from where it lay against the wall and looked to his right. He noticed another chain and beyond that one sat Wordy.

"Ed, you awake?" Wordy asked carefully. If Ed was feeling anything like he was then they were both sporting quite massive headaches at the moment.

"Yeah. What happened?" Ed asked as he looked down to see his own wrists in shackles as well.

"I don't know. I think we may have been hit with a sedative." Wordy slowly blinked his eyes for a moment before continuing. "I remember feeling like I got bit by a bug before blacking out, then waking up here."

"Speaking of here. Where is here?" Greg asked softly.

Both men turned to look at their boss.

"Best I can tell it's a warehouse." Wordy answered. "Haven't been with it long enough to tell for sure but it's got a warehouse feel to it."

"You guys okay?" Greg asked as he shifted a bit in order to stretch his sore neck.

"Just the headache from hell." Ed answered.

"Spike, Lou, Jules...they were with us." Greg realized suddenly.

"They're here too." Wordy answered as he lifted his shackled hand and pointed across the room.

Both Ed and Greg turned to see where Wordy was pointing and they saw three of their four remaining teammates on the opposite wall. They were all restrained in the same way and all looked to be equally out of it.

"Any idea what's going on?" Ed asked as he looked around.

In the middle of the room was a large metal plate with restraints bolted to the ground in each corner. It looked to be about six feet long and four feet wide. At one end of the room was a solid metal door. The other end housed what looked to be a shower head. There was a drain in the floor directly beneath the shower head and there were shackles on the wall just under the shower head. As Ed's gaze came back to the center of the room he noticed chains hanging from a beam in the roof several feet above them. His stomach dropped as he realized the reason that they were here. His Team was most likely about to be tortured.

"Boss? Ed? Wordy?" Spike called softly as he rolled his head around a bit. It felt like a bomb had exploded in his head it hurt so much!

"We're all here Spike. How are you feeling?" Greg asked, concerned about his Team.

"My head is killing me." Spike answered. He kept his voice low and it still felt like he was shouting.

"Spike?" Jules whispered as she slowly opened her eyes. Only to close them tightly when the light in the room hit them.

"Jules, you okay?" Spike responded, concern lacing his voice.

"Feels like a concussion grenade went off in my head." Jules answered as she slowly blinked her eyes open.

"I know how you feel. I was just telling the boss that I felt like a bomb exploded in mine."

"Is everyone here?" Jules asked as she slowly looked around. She didn't miss the fact that there were restraints around the room.

"Everyone except Sam." Wordy answered as he too took in the layout of the room.

"Where's Sam?" Lou asked. He had been quietly listening to the conversation around him as he attempted to ignore the drums in his head.

"We don't know." Spike answered as he looked to his best friend.

Greg took in the state of his Team and sighed. "It seems like they grabbed us all as we were leaving the Goose. Sam wasn't with us so maybe they didn't get him."

Just as Greg was finishing his comment the door at the end of the room opened an in walked four men. Two were dragging a man with them, one carried a weapon that remained trained on the unconscious man, and the other seemed to be the ringleader. Team One looked closely at the men and Ed, Jules, and Wordy immediately got the impression that they were military, or at least former military.

The men drug the man to the center of the room and unceremoniously dropped him on the metal plate that was situated between the two group of SRU officers shackled to the wall. As the man's head bounced off the metal plate Team One could finally see the man. They had found their missing Team mate. Or rather, the subjects had. Everyone watched as Sam was laid on his side and his hands and feet were shackled. The subjects had adjusted the restraints so that two were in the center at the top, and two were in the center at the bottom. Sam had a bit of room to move, but he wouldn't be able to sit up at all. Once he was shackled three of the four men left the room. The remaining man, the one that looked to be the leader, simply stood and stared at Sam for a long minute.

"Sir, my name is Greg Parker..."

"With the Strategic Response Unit. You want to know what's going on here and how you can help so that everyone can go home in one piece." The man interrupted.

Greg held in his surprise at the man's words. _How did he know what I was about to say?_ He wondered.

"I bet you're wondering who I am. How do I know how you operate? How did I manage to capture your whole Team in one night?" The man turned at met Greg's eyes. Greg could see the pure hatred burning within them. "How about you ask Braddock when he wakes up."

With that the man delivered a swift kick to Sam's stomach, laughed, and walked out. He closed the door behind him with a thud and the entire Team heard the lock click into place.

"Greg?" Ed looked between Sam and his boss.

"I don't know Eddie. I guess we just have to wait until Sam wakes up to see if he can tell us what's going on." Greg answered as he stared at his rookie.

Ed couldn't help but wonder what trouble the cocky ex soldier had gotten them into this time. _This kid's causing us nothing but trouble._ He thought as he glared at the Rookie's unconscious form.

"Sam? Sam, can you hear me? Sam, wake up!" Lou called out. He was afraid that the hit to the head when Sam was dropped on the floor would give the man a concussion. That wouldn't be good because they wouldn't be able to properly treat him with them all shackled to the wall.

"Come on Braddock! Stop sleeping and wake up. You need to tell us what's going on!" Jules called out. She was angry that it was his fault that they were in this predicament.

All six members of Team One called out to Sam to try and wake him. Some were worried about his physical state while others were simply wanting to know why they were chained to a wall. Unfortunately for them he remained unconscious man in the middle of the room.

* * *

_"I'm sorry Matt. It's not like I_ wanted _to shoot a .50 caliber round through you. I swear, I was cleared to fire!"_

_"Yeah, well you did, and now you're in this predicament. Just how do you think you're going to get out of it?" Matt asked._

_"I don't know man. He seemed to be really, really pissed at me. Rightfully so too." Sam sighed as he looked down, unable to meet Matt's gaze. "It's all my fault. I killed you. I deserve anything he does to me and more."_

_"NO! Samuel Braddock you listen to me_ right now _!" Matt stood and screamed at him. Sam looked up, startled at the tone of Matt's voice. "You were given bad orders. I don't know why they told you the area was clear. I don't know why they cleared you to fire. But they did. Shit happens. You can't go back and change the past."_

_"It should have been me." Sam said softly as he once again looked away from his friend. "I killed Anna Marie, and I killed my best friend. I deserve to die."_

Suddenly Matt faded away and all Sam felt was pain radiating throughout his body. His stomach and chest hurt and his head felt like he was doing a handstand on an IED for fun. He fell back on his training. Sam focused first and foremost on keeping his breathing under control. As he counted out sniper breathing he searched his mind to figure out what had happened.

It had been a long day at work. He had ignored an order from Ed to stay put and instead went into the apartment. He had know the cop was close to being dead, he wanted to get him out before that happened. However, instead of things ending well a kid had been killed. As he stood outside the building he had made a comment to Ed that it was too bad about the kid. He knew that if he stopped to think about it too long it would consume him, the fact that the kid might still be alive if he had just obeyed the dumb order. Ed refused to drop the matter though and Sam realized that it wasn't just about that order. Something else had been bothering Ed.

So he asked. He asked if Ed wanted to know what happened in Afghanistan. Even though he already knew the answer he had hoped he was wrong. But the look in his TL's eyes told him he had hit the nail on the head. So Sam told him. Told him about Matt, how he had killed his best friend from two kilometers away. Despite his best efforts he hadn't been able to keep a sob from escaping during his explanation. At this point he could care less _what_ Ed thought of him.

Once they had managed to get through a very heated debrief Sam showered and left the Barn as quickly as he could. He couldn't be around them, not since they now knew what kind of a monster he was. Well, they would think they knew. He would keep the awful truth to himself. Sam had gone home, to his apartment that he had just moved into yesterday. He didn't even have furniture yet. But he couldn't stay there. So he had left, gone to the one place where he could really be himself. But, that's where they found him.

Sam realized that his head was finally clearing and he was starting to hear sounds around him. He had to be hallucinating though because it sounded like Team One was here. He had no idea why they would be here. Surely he was hearing things. _Wait, no. That's definitely Ed screaming at me._ He thought.

"Braddock, if you don't open your damn eyes I'll shoot you myself!" Ed yelled. He could tell that Sam was coming out of the sedation and he was so infuriated at him he didn't care how the Rookie felt.

"Eddie, calm down." Greg was finally able to raise his voice over the voices of his Team. They were all so angry, well, most of them anyway. They didn't even know why they were here yet. They didn't know Sam's side of the story.

Sam blinked his eyes open and the first thing he saw was Ed's angry face glaring at him.

"It's about time you woke up Braddock!" Ed glared.

"Ed, stow it!" Wordy spat out. He couldn't believe that Ed was acting this way with Sam, again.

"Sam, are you okay?" Greg asked as he carefully looked over his newest Team member.

"A bit sore but I'll be fine." Sam answered carefully.

"That's good to hear." Greg was carefully to keep his voice calm. His Team was angry enough as it stood. "Sam, the men who took us. They said you would know why we were here. Do you know who took us and why?"

Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Yeah, he knew, and if he were being honest with himself he was surprised it had taken him this long.

"Sam?" Wordy asked. He saw the brief flash of pain on Sam's face and started to get worried.

Sam opened his eyes and looked at Greg before turning his gaze to meet Ed's. He maintained eye contact with his TL.

"His name is Mark Simmons. He's out for revenge against me for something that I did a few months ago." Sam answered honestly.

"Who is Mark Simmons?" Ed asked pointedly.

"Mark Simmons is..." Sam swallowed the emotions that were just below the surface. "He is Matt's brother."


	2. Shocking Realizations

The room descended into silence after Sam's statement. Everyone on the Team had heard the discussion between Sam and Ed earlier that day and the news had affected each one of them differently. The same happened just after Sam finished speaking.

Sam closed his eyes after he answered Sarge's question. It was his fault they were all here today, and with what he knew about Mark they weren't going to like what was going to happen. He focused his thoughts inward to prepare for what he knew was going to come. He wouldn't be able to say why but his thoughts drifted to their night at the Goose the day before Matt's father's funeral. He allowed himself to escape to the happy memory.

Lou's jaw dropped. _Matt's brother? The same Matt that Sam killed in Afghanistan? The same Matt that was Sam's best friend? This is not good. Not good at all!_ As he looked at their newest teammate Lou couldn't help but wonder how the death of his best friend had affected Sam. He knew that if something happened to Spike he would be at a total loss. If it was by his hand..he honestly wasn't sure he would be able to keep from ending his own life. How did Sam keep on going knowing he had killed his best friend?

Wordy simply stared at Sam. It looked like their rookie had just completely shut down after that statement. Wordy wasn't sure why but he had this gut feeling that things were about to get bad, very, very bad. He closed his eyes and thought of Shelley and his girls. Were they missing him already? Did they even notice that Daddy didn't come home for dinner? His heart hurt at how worried his wife would be when he didn't come home.

To say that Spike was shocked would be an understatement. This guy, who had been forced upon them, had not only killed his best friend but now he might be the reason Team One was killed too. This wasn't right! If Sam did something to piss someone off then they should take it out on him. Not on a Team that doesn't even want him. He looked over to Lou and their eyes met. If Lou died it would kill Spike slowly from the inside out. Lou was like a brother to him. If Lou was on a different Team and was killed by friendly fire, by a teammate, then yes, Spike would want to make them suffer too. But he wouldn't take it out on the whole Team. That's just wrong.

Jules was glaring daggers at the rookie. First he had the gall to approach them at the end of a Hot Call gone lethal. Then he talked about a gun while reaching in his pocket. Can you say stupid? And now he's the reason the whole Team had been abducted. All because he screwed up in the Army and a friend died. Now that friend's brother is out for revenge and pulled the whole Team into his little game. If they ever got out of here she would scorpio Braddock's ass on principle alone!

Ed was seething. He couldn't believe that of all the luck they had not only been saddled with a rookie who only wanted to shoot people, but with one who had killed a friend. Now that friend's brother was holding them all hostage in search of revenge. Ed had seen how the room was set up. He had friends in the Army. He knew what just about everything in the room could be used for. He would be willing to bet that Sam wouldn't be the only one getting hurt in here and if he was right Sam was going to be a dead mad. The rookie was the reason they were in this situation. After the day that they had it was probably a good thing Ed was restrained, otherwise he couldn't promise he wouldn't break Sam's neck himself.

Greg felt for his rookie. Sam clearly had quite a troubling time in the Army. To be the one to kill your own best friend had to be eating Sam up inside. If his choked words to Ed after their hot call earlier today were any indication then Sam was still carrying around quite a bit of guilt over the incident. Greg had worked with enough people, negotiated enough hot calls, heard enough stories to know that it was a miracle Sam was still alive. Many a soldier who had been involved in a friendly fire incident didn't handle it well. A good portion of those men and women committed suicide. It was so very common with those who had served. As he looked at the newest member of their Team Greg suddenly wondered. Had Sam ever tried to take his own life? If Sam was still reeling over the loss of Matt, like his tone of voice earlier indicated, then how would this affect him? Would they still have a rookie when this was all over? And if so, would Sam be able to move on instead of taking his own life?

Sam looked up several minutes later when the door opened. The first thing he saw was the glare from Ed that was still directed at him. Man his TL was pissed at him. Rightfully so.

Team One turned towards the door as it opened. The only one unable to see what was happening was Sam due to the way he was shackled on the floor. He heard the unmistakable sound of two distinct sets of footprints though.

Mark entered the room with one of his accomplices. He wanted to remind everyone of why they were here. There would be no forgetting. He smiled as he saw Sam lying on the steel plate. He couldn't wait to put some of the features built below that plate to good use. All in good time though, all in good time. He mentally shook himself. He had purposefully had Sam shackled with his head towards the door. It would take away even more control from the man. Sam's arms and legs were shackled in the center of the top and bottom of the plate for now. There was enough slack in the chains that Sam could bring his knees up to about waist height and his elbows down to shoulder height. Mark didn't want Sam to be able to curl up to avoid his beatings that were coming.

"I thought since you were all here you might be interested to know a little bit about my brother. I'm sure Braddock here hasn't told you anything about him so we'll spend some time over the next couple of days talking about him" Mark stated as his comrade moved to place an easel and picture where the entire Team, including Sam could see it.

Sam refused to look at the picture that was just placed in the room. He knew if he did he would see Matt looking back at him and in this moment that was something he couldn't handle.

"This picture..." Mark pointed to the large picture he had just had put in the room. "...This picture was taken the night we escorted my dad to Toronto for the last time. He was killed in action and we had just brought him to Toronto for his autopsy before burial. Matt had felt suffocated in our suite at the York so had asked his best friend Sam here to take him out. The went out to a local bar and for a few hours Matt was able to get away from the world. He actually had fun that night. Said he danced with a beautiful brunette, enjoyed some beers with his best friend, and was able to be happy for a short period of time during what was the worst time of our lives to date. Despite everything that was going on he had been happy that night." Mark walked over to where Sam lay bound on the ground. "If only he was here today to enjoy another night like that! You know Sam, this was one of his favorite pictures of the two of you. I hope when you look at it you remember what a great man, a great brother, Matt was. I hope it eats you up so much inside that you give up on life. Only, I won't make it easy for you."

Mark stepped away and nodded to his comrade.

The other man stepped forward and began to kick Sam in the arms, legs, chest, and stomach. He didn't kick hard enough to break any ribs or anything. It wasn't time for that yet. Mark just wanted him to feel some physical pain to go with the emotional pain that was sure to follow. After several blows to the man he turned and left the room. The lock slid into place with a resounding click in the silent room.

Sam stared straight ahead. Pain was radiation through his chest, arms, and leg from where goon one had kicked him. It wasn't so painful that he thought something had been broken. It was more like a pain that was dulling to an ache. For that he was thankful. He refused to look at the picture, as everyone else seemed to be doing. He knew which picture it was. Where it was taken. Who was in it. He almost laughed as he wondered how long it would take Team One to figure it out. The picture would be the one of he and Matt at the Goose when he had met Jules. Sam and Matt were standing side by side, arms around each other's shoulders and beers in hand. Smiles were plastered on both of their faces.

"I've seen this picture before." Wordy almost whispered as he stared at the picture.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Greg commented as he too looked at the picture closely.

Jules just stared. No way. There was no way she was really seeing this. That night had been so long ago that she had forgotten about it.

"Eddie, does that look familiar to you?" Wordy asked his long time friend and TL.

Ed's mouth was hanging open. Yeah, he remembered. The Team had talked about that night for a long time afterwards.

"Yeah Wordy. I remember." Ed finally answered softly.

"Remember what? When did you see this picture? Is it in Sam's locker or something?" Spike asked as he looked at the three men across the room from him curiously.

Sam closed his eyes and swallowed hard as his emotions threatened to spill over. He would never have mentioned that night to the Team. Not after the way that had treated him from the moment they saw each other outside Town Hall. That night, though, was one of his favorite memories of him and Matt.

"What aren't you guys telling us?" Lou asked, he wasn't missing what was going on on the other side of the room either.

"We met Matt. We were there that night at the Goose. Ed took that picture." Wordy stated, still not fully believing it. "Which means that we met Sam that night too." He whispered.

Wordy looked at Ed and Greg. How could they have forgotten? That night they had met a man who was more concerned with his best friend who had just lost his father than he was about looking like an idiot by approaching random strangers. Team One had even picked up the tab of the two soldiers that night. How could they have completely forgotten about meeting Sam and Matt?

"Jules, you look like you're seeing a ghost." Spike stated as he looked worriedly at his teammate.

"That's because I am." Jules whispered as she looked at Sam's back. She couldn't believe that she didn't remember meeting Matt, dancing with him, chatting with him and Sam.

Granted, that had been several years ago. But she still should have remembered that night. She remembered everything else about that day. Why had she not recognized Sam at some point during their shifts together?

"Sam, did you remember meeting us that night?" Greg asked as he looked to his rookie.

Sam had been listening to the discussion swirling around him and had chosen so far to stay out of it. He knew they would ask questions, but he wasn't going to offer the information unless specifically asked.

"I remember." Sam answered simply.

He took a deep breath and slowly rolled onto his back. He knew this was going to be a long discussion and he wanted to be able to see the reaction of all of his Team mates. Besides, he was tired of only seeing Ed's glares directed his way.

"Matt needed to get away that night so I took him to the Goose, gave him some beers, and issued a challenge to take his eyes off things." Sam answered.

"What kind of challenge?" Spike asked curiously. He would come back to the fact that Ed, Sarge, and Wordy had met Matt before later.

"While we were nursing our third beer for the night a group of Academy Graduates came in to celebrate their graduation. There were a few women in the group and I told Matt that his mission was to get the brunette to talk to him." Sam looked at Jules. "He accepted the challenge and spent the rest of the night chatting with her and dancing."

"Okay, but how did you meet Team One?" Lou asked. He knew he and Spike hadn't been a part of the Team yet but he still wanted to know.

"We sat at the table next to Matt and Sam." Greg answered. "Sam heard us talking about being on the bridge that day when the convoy passed carrying a soldier that had been KIA. Someone made the comment that they wished we could do more for the family. The next thing we know this blonde guy comes up to our table, tells us he's the best friend of the soldier that had been escorted home. He told us that he had seen us up on the bridge and that our presence was appreciated. Then he told us that if we wanted to do more we could keep our comments about the bridge to ourselves, and buy the guy a beer."

"We never told the guys but we picked up their tab that night." Wordy commented as he watched Sam. The rookie was now staring at a spot on the roof. "It felt like the least we could do."

"I was the brunette to dance with Matt." Jules admitted softly as she continued to look at the picture. "He kept trying to grab my ass, but we had fun. I got him to laugh a lot. I never knew why he was there, he only told me that he just needed a night out. I sensed a great deal of sadness in him that night though."

"He talked about you for the next month." Sam stated softly. "Said you were the prettiest girl he had ever danced with."

The room became silent for several long moments. Finally, after debating with himself for a long minute, Lou finally spoke up.

"If you remembered that night then why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Yeah Sam. If you knew you had met Ed, Wordy, Jules, and the Boss then why didn't you tell us?" Spike asked.

"Because thinking of Matt still hurts too much." Sam admitted. He closed his eyes to keep the threatening tears from spilling over.

The Team was stunned. Not just because some of them had met Matt and Sam before, but because their rookie just admitted to being human. Sam had put off an all soldier front. Made it seem like nothing could bother him. In fact, the first sign that Sam wasn't a superhuman was this morning when he allowed a bit of emotion creep into his discussion with Ed.

As Greg observed his rookie he realized that he had seriously failed their new Teammate. He had not once sat down with him and tried to get to know him. Unfortunately it seemed like now he wouldn't get the chance. He may have just been too late to connect with the ex-soldier. He hoped he was wrong.


	3. Phase One

Sam lay for several long minutes as he processed his emotions. Killing Matt had hurt just as much as losing Anna Marie had. It had been his fault, again, that someone close to him was dead. It could have been prevented! As Sam worked to lock all the feelings of guilt and loss away once again his mind drifted to his current situation. He had to get his Team out of this. It didn't matter that they had treated him like crap, or that they probably wanted to scorpio his ass right now for them being in this situation. Sam knew that he had to do everything that he could to protect them. To get them out of here in one piece. He couldn't do any more for Anna Marie or Matt right now. But he _could_ protect his Team to the best of his ability. He would protect them until his dying breath if that's what it took.

"I'm sorry you all were dragged into this. I know none of what happened is your fault." Sam looked at each of his Teammates as he spoke. He could see that most of them were still reeling from the fact that they had met both he and Matt before. It was time to get them to focus. "Ed, we need to get you guys out of here. Mark is going to be brutal in his search for revenge and it's not something you guys need to see or experience."

Greg had been watching Sam closely and knew the exact moment the rookie had locked away his emotions and focused instead on what to do. Sam's soldier persona was coming out in full force. Greg almost laughed at the thought, they were finally about to see what Sam was _really_ capable of.

"What do you mean by brutal?" Ed asked as he looked at the Rookie closely. Something had just changed in Sam and Ed was partially terrified about the prospect of seeing what Sam was _really_ capable of.

"I mean like the Merriam Webster definition: extremely cruel or harsh, very direct and accurate in a way that is harsh or unpleasant, very bad or unpleasant." Sam answered.

"Wait...you have the definition of brutal memorized?" Spike asked with furrowed brows.

"Yeah." Sam answered as he kept his eyes locked with Ed's.

"You said knowing Mark he would be brutal. How do you know that?" Greg asked, his brain switching to profiler mode.

"Mark is in the Army. His specialty is training Special Forces soldiers in interrogation techniques and resistance." Sam replied as he looked to his boss. "He's spent the last few years studying the enemy and their interrogation techniques, no matter how brutal and inhumane they seem, and has been teaching them to JTF2. He teaches them the techniques, and then ways to withstand them."

"So he know plenty of ways to make a man suffer then." Lou stated quietly.

"Exactly, which is why we need to get you guys out of here." Sam answered. He turned his head to look at Jules. "Do you wear bobby pins?"

"Sometimes, but I don't have any on me today." Jules answered.

Sam nodded. He thought that would be the answer, but he had to ask anyway.

"Anyone have a pen, or paperclip? Something we can use to pick these locks?" Ed asked, catching on to what Sam was thinking.

The whole Team checked all their pockets looking for anything that they could use. Sadly they came up with nothing.

"Spike, look around closely. Do you see any types of surveillance or countermeasures that could hamper an escape?" Sam questioned as he looked to their tech genius.

Spike took a deep breath as he looked around closely. He checked all the corners, the door, the light fixtures, everything he could think of.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary. But..." Spike answered, then hesitated.

"But what Spike?" Greg heard the slight concern in Spike's voice.

"But...that plate under you Sam. I can't tell what's under it and I have a bad feeling about it." Spike reluctantly answered.

"You think it's rigged?" Lou asked as he looked closely at the steel plate.

"I don't know. I just have a gut feeling about it." Spike answered.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that." Sam took in a deep breath. He really wished that there was enough slack in the chains for him to sit up. He hated feeling helpless, and that's exactly how he felt right now. "Look guys, I know how hard it's going to be when he comes back in here. I need you guys to promise me something. No matter what he does to me, don't blame yourselves. This is all on me, every bit of it. Don't let him use me against you guys in any way. Promise me!" Sam met the eyes of each person in the room. Begged them to understand and agree.

"We promise Sam. But you have to promise to do the same thing. Don't let him use one of us against you." Ed answered for the Team.

Greg suppressed a sigh. He knew that that was exactly what Mark intended to do. He was going to use the Team to bring more pain to Sam. This wouldn't be just physical torture. It would be emotion and psychological as well.

Sam was about to answer but before he could say anything the door opened and Mark with goons one, two, and three came in. Mark was sporting a devilish grin which clearly meant trouble. Goon one walked over to Jules and held a weapon pointed at her head.

"Braddock, you are going to do exactly what I tell you to. Otherwise I'll let him blow her brains out. Do you understand?" Mark ashed as he came to stand over Sam.

"Understood." Sam answered simply. He wouldn't let anything happen to Jules if he could help it.

"I'm going to have my men unshackle you. You will stand, remove your boots, socks, and shirt. You will then walk over to the wall and allow them to restrain you once again. Failure to comply, or any attempt at escape will result in her brains painting the wall behind her and my men using these cattle prods on you. Understood?" Mark explained.

Sam simply nodded his head. He pushed down all his natural instincts to try and take down these men knowing that him doing so would result in Jules' demise. He refused to have another death on his hands. Once the goons unshackled him he stood in place and stripped off his boots, socks, and shirt.

The whole Team was shocked. Somehow Sam had managed to not be shirtless in front of any of them. Therefore none of them had been ready to see the scars that were on Sam's chest and back. As Greg, Ed, and Wordy watched Sam walk towards the shackles on the wall they each felt for the ex-soldier who had clearly been through more than any of them had known.

As Sam was directed to the far wall he worked to mentally prepare himself for whatever may be coming. He knew it was going to be painful, not just physically but emotionally as well. He hated the fact that his Team was going to have to bear witness to his pain. Sam vowed to himself to do everything within his power to keep from adding to their pain by crying out. It wouldn't help him, and it wouldn't help his Team. Silence would be the best course of action.

Sam was turned so his back was to the wall as the goons shackled his hands over his head. He didn't miss the fact that there was a shower head nearby and couldn't help but wonder what Mark had up his sleeve. He didn't have to wonder long.

"Edward Lane. Team Leader to the SRU's elite Team One. Husband to Sophie Lane and father to Clark Lane." Mark turned to Ed and smirked. "Is that about right?"

Ed simply glared at the man. He was pissed off that the man knew about his family.

"I hope you don't mind but I need your assistance for a bit." Mark nodded to the two goons that had shackled Sam to the wall and they came forward. "Same rules as with Braddock. You don't cooperate one hundred percent and I blow the brunettes brains all over the wall. Do you understand?"

Ed simply continued to glare. As the two goons approached him he did as instructed and didn't lash out. However, he did see the rage rolling off Sam in waves despite the man's silence.

The two goons brought Ed to the center of the room where the chains and shackles were hanging from the roof. Ed was thankful that once chained he was still able to keep both feet on the ground. Once he was restrained facing Sam, and where the whole Team could see him, Mark stepped away and motioned to goon one who was holding the gun to Jules' head. The three goons retreated to stand by the door to await further orders.

"I'm sure you're all wondering by now why I've brought you here. You probably think that it's not fair that I'm out for Sam's blood and yet you've been dragged into this. Well, let me enlighten you." Mark slowly walked around the room, smiling at each member of Team One. "You are here purely to provide more pain and psychological torture for Braddock. You see, Braddock has an ingrained desire to protect people. He feels like it's his responsibility, his job, his mission in life. Nothing hurts him more than to see people hurt and not be able to do anything about it. Well, Braddock..." Mark turned back and looked at Sam. "...there is absolutely nothing you can do about this."

Mark nodded to one of his men who produced a baseball bat. Sam swallowed hard.

"Mark, please. Don't do this. I'm the one that killed Matt, not Ed. Please! I don't care what you do to me, just don't hurt him!" Sam pleaded.

"Didn't you hear me Braddock? This is going to happen and nothing that you say or do will stop me." Mark stated with finality as he stood directly in front of Sam. "Gag him."

One of the other goons stepped up and gagged Sam to keep him from saying anything.

The whole of Team One watched as the goon with the most muscles stepped up to Ed and prepared to swing the bat. They all knew that it was going to hurt. Each just hoped that it wouldn't injure Ed too badly. This wasn't just psychological torture for Sam but for all of them as well.

Ed ignored the goon that was standing at his side with a baseball bat raised and ready to swing. Instead he sought out Sam's eyes. He wanted the man to know that he would be okay. Despite the fact that he had been pissed at the rookie for them being in this position to start with.

As Sam watched the baseball bat was swung and hit Ed squarely in the torso. He screamed, as loud as he could through the gag, trying to get the man to stop. Instead Mark simply smirked at him. As blow after blow landed Sam's pleas landed on deaf ears. He could see that Ed was in pain and wished with every fiber of his being that he could be taking the beating instead of his TL. No one deserved to be punished for his mistake.

Ed sucked in a quick breath of air as the fourth hit landed. He had managed not to cry out in pain at the first few blows but he wasn't sure how much longer he would last. He was pretty sure by the end of things he would have bruised and cracked ribs, if they didn't break them instead. The man continued to hit him in the torso, legs, arms, back, practically everywhere but his head for which he was thankful. He could hear Sam screaming through the gag and knew that Sam was pleading for his release.

As a particularly hard blow landed to his chest Ed felt pain radiating out from his ribs. He could hold in the scream of pain no more. As hit after hit made contact his pain filled screams echoed through the room. He screwed his eyes shut tight and tried to let his mind drift to his family. He couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever see them again.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity the beating stopped. Mark walked over to Sam and removed the gag and received a glare from the bound man. He smirked before turning back to where Ed hung.

"How does it feel to be beaten because of another man's choices? I'm sure that you're quite angry at him at the moment." Mark chuckled. "Feel free to lay into him for what has happened to you."

Ed was breathing heavily as he tried to ignore the pain in is body. He heard Mark, and he saw Sam looking at him and trying to see what the damage was.

"I'm okay Sam." Ed stated as he met the young man's gaze. "I'm stronger than I look. I can take it."

Suddenly a hard blow hit Ed in the jaw. As he looked up he felt where the blow had split his lip.

"I'm sorry Ed." Sam said quietly. "Mark, please, stop this. _I_ am the one you want. _I_ am the one that deserves to be beaten. Not Ed. He's not the one that shot a .50 caliber round through your brother. _I am!"_

"Oh, I know." Mark stated with a calmness that terrified every member of Team One. "But watching you cry out for the release of your Teammate is something I will cherish forever. If only you had cared about my brother as much as you care for this Team maybe he would still be with us today." Mark turned away from Sam. "Put him back with the others."

Two goons stepped forward and released Ed from the shackles. He fell to the ground with a thud as he hit the hard, concrete floor. The goons dragged him back to where he had originally been shackled and threw him against the wall. Ed couldn't help the groan that escaped.

Once his hands were once again in shackles the two goons turned back to their boss.

"Now, to give you a little taste of what your Team Leader just went through." Mark said to Sam before nodding to his three comrades before turning and walking out of the room. As he heard the sounds of fists connecting with flesh he smiled and thought, _Phase One: Complete._


	4. Brothers

 

Sam gasped in pain as the three goons finally stepped away from him. He was beating himself up. He should have known that Mark's goal wasn't really to torture his Team, but to torture him by hurting them. His screams during Ed's torture had been exactly what Mark had been looking for. He played right into his hands. That is why he held in any and all sounds of pain as dummies one, two, and three used him as a human punching bag.

Sam was pretty sure he had some spectacularly bruised ribs, if they weren't cracked. Not to mention he'd be sporting some amazing bruises thanks to the beating. He closed his eyes as he heard the three men leave the room and slam the door behind them. He allowed his body to sag against the cold stone wall behind him for a long moment as he focused inward. He worked for several long minutes to breathe through the pain. Sam used his sniper breathing to bring his body back under his control.

After several long minutes Sam slowly opened his eyes and pulled himself to more of a standing position to alleviate the strain that had been put on his arms.

"...Sam! Come on Sam, answer me!" Greg called yet again trying to get Sam's attention.

Sam slowly took in the room around him and heard Sarge talking to him.

"I'm fine boss." Sam commented as he met Greg's eyes. "Just a little sore, nothing I haven't been through before."

"You had us really worried for a minute there Sam." Greg said softly. He had been genuinely worried for his rookie.

Sam almost laughed at that statement. If the looks on some of Team One's faces showed anything it was that they were pissed at him.

"How are you Ed?" Sam asked, concerned.

"Me? You finally want to know how _I'm_ feeling?" Ed asked, his voice rising with his eyebrows. "Since when do you care about your Team? You clearly didn't when you were in Afghanistan. So tell me, oh great 'elite special ops counter-terrorist soldier'...why do you suddenly give a flying rats ass about someone other than yourself?"

"Ed..." Wordy didn't know where this sudden hostility from his friend came from but he was clearly hitting Sam below the belt so to speak.

"What Wordy?" Ed asked as he whipped his head towards his friend. He regretted the action as the room swam for a moment. "It's Braddock's damn fault that they beat me with that bat. If he had been more careful, had actually looked through his scope instead of just firing at anything and everything that moved, then we wouldn't be here!"

"Ed's right!" Jules piped up from across the room. "This _is_ Sam's fault. Ed has a right to be pissed at him. Ed took a beating just so someone could get back at Sam."

" _Guys!_ " Greg yelled, trying to get the attention of his Team before they said more hurtful things that they couldn't take back. "This is not getting us anywhere."

Sam sighed softly as he simply looked at the floor. Ed was right to be angry. If it wasn't for him Ed would be home with his wife and son right now. Not dealing with the aftermath of a beating.

"Ed, where did this hostility come from? You were just telling Sam that you were okay, that you could take it." Wordy said softly. He had seen the emotions crossing the Rookie's face before Sam looked away. Ed's words had hit hard and deep.

Ed just glared at Wordy for a long minute. Who wouldn't be pissed at Braddock? It really was Sam's fault that they were here, not his, or Wordy's, or Jules', or any of the rest of Team One. Everything bad that had happened today had been Sam's fault!

Why was he mad again instead of trying to brush it off with Sam like he had a few minutes ago?

The answer was easy. He hadn't wanted Mark to get what he wanted, which was his cries of pain. Ed knew that, so he did everything he could to downplay the pain. It hadn't worked as much as he had wanted, but that didn't matter now. He was hurting. He was angry that he wasn't home with Sophie and Clark.

He was _pissed_ at Braddock and nothing would change how much he _hated_ the other man at the moment!

Greg and Wordy just stared at Ed dumbfounded. They didn't know what had gotten into the man. Ed usually took on new members of Team One and mentored them, worked with them, taught them how the SRU worked and helped them improve. But with Sam it was like it was the complete opposite. From day one Ed hadn't liked the man.

Then today, or was it yesterday now, of all days Ed and Sam had been at such odds. It hadn't helped that a young man had died during their call. It didn't matter that the kid was shot before the team ever stacked up on the door. All that mattered to Ed was that Sam disobeyed an order.

Greg sighed as he wondered if his team was ever going to get the chance to make things right with Sam.

Sam closed his eyes as he tuned out everything that was going on around him. He knew it was his fault. He knew that he had killed his best friend by blowing a hole in his chest from two kilometers away. He had carried that overwhelming guilt since he had found Matt lying there in his own blood with a gaping hole through his body. Now he felt guilt for being the reason that his team was here being tortured with him.

As Sam replayed everything that had happened from the moment he talked to Ed after the hot call yesterday he searched for anything he could do to free his team. In his current situation though there was nothing that he could do. Without something to pick the locks on the shackles there was no way they would get out.

After several long minutes Sam decided to take the only course of action that he could at the moment. Mark wanted nothing more than to get a reaction out of him. Mark had succeeded when torturing Ed. Sam would not do so again!

He vowed to himself to appear to be completely unaffected by whatever Mark did next. Sam hated what the team would think of him for what would seem like complete lack of care for what would most assuredly happen to them. But he couldn't let Mark win. Sam just hoped that Mark would take out his anger on him, not the team.

Sam was surprised as the shower head above him suddenly came on and cold water rained down on him. The shower head was on a pipe that brought it out from the wall more so than usual and pointed back towards him. Thus the water was hitting him squarely in the face if he didn't turn his head just right.

His mind searched for the different tortures that the water could be used for, but at the moment Sam was drawing a bit of a blank. He knew water was used in waterboarding, dunkings, and such. But he couldn't figure out why Mark would simply shower him with water.

Wordy looked up at the sound of a shower coming on and noticed that water was now hitting Sam where he hung shackled to the wall. He knew that the next torture had just begun and he hoped that Sam would be able to withstand it.

"Sam, how are you holing up?" Greg asked as he looked to his rookie. He was surprised to see the water raining down on Sam.

"Fine Sarge." Sam answered simply

"What's the water for?" Greg wondered out loud.

He didn't have to wonder for long, the door opened just two minutes after the water turned on.

"Are you enjoying your shower Braddock?" Mark asked as he walked through the door.

Sam didn't even bother to look up at Mark. If he did he knew that the water would hit him directly in the face and he didn't want to do that. He wanted to avoid swallowing any, or any getting in his lungs, for as long as possible.

"I know you're all probably wondering why Braddock is enjoying a nice cold shower." Mark stated as he slowly circled the room. "Well, it's simple. I am just not going to explain it to you." He laughed as he stopped in front of Lou and Spike.

The shower above Sam stopped when Mark stopped circling. Sam shook the water off his face and looked up just in time to see one of Mark's minions step up with a Taser in hand. He cringed. _So that's what the water is for_ he thought sadly to himself.

Sam knew that Mark was simply searching for another reaction from him so he schooled his features in order to appear unconcerned. Inside he was preparing to watch another of his team endure pain due to his actions.

"You know, I always thought that Sam and Matt were best friends. But, over the last several months I've began to wonder. I mean, how can your best friend be responsible for your death? Your pain?" Mark looked from Sam, to Lou, to Spike. "It's not every day you find a team member that is closer to you than a brother, now is it Constable Scarlatti?"

"Especially when your own family thinks that your profession is a waste of your time and skills. Your own father, after all, thinks that you are wasting away your abilities on the police force is he not? But, you've found family in the SRU, Constable Young for example. You two have become best friends, as thick as thieves. You spend most of your time off hanging out together, you are partners on the job more times than not, you know the deepest darkest secrets of each other. Still you are friends. In fact, you consider yourselves brothers do you not?" Mark paused, allowing the words to sink in. He was curious to see how Sam would react to the obvious threat to both Spike and Lou.

Sam refused to even look Mark's direction. Sam knew that doing so would alert the man to the fact that he wanted nothing more than to stop what was happening. Instead he kept his eyes averted, not missing the pure rage in Ed's face as he did so.

He had thought that Ed might be coming around and cut him a break during the beatings. Sam had been sadly wrong though when afterwards Ed laid into him for everything that had gone wrong lately. He didn't know what it would take for the team to accept him for who he was, with his flaws and all. Sam had hoped it would happen soon butnow he was sure Ed would never accept him. There was just too much anger from Ed and it was only going to get worse when Sam did what he had to do and act like he didn't care for Lou and Spike.

"Young and Scarlatti. You are both the tech and explosives experts on the team are you not?" Mark stepped back as his two accomplices stepped forward, both holding Tasers. "You work together, spend time off together, are brothers in everything but blood. I wonder if your bond will remain at the end of the day. It is time you get a feel for what it's like when someone close to you, a teammate, betrays you."

Mark nodded to his men and each man shot Spike and Lou with their Tasers. As the electricity traveled down the wires and into the leads that had attached to the men both Lou and Spike cried out in surprise and pain.

"All that is needed to stop this pain is for Braddock to admit that he never really cared for my brother Matt. To admit that he _wanted_ Matt to die and therefore did what he does best, blew him to pieces with a .50 cal. If Braddock will admit that he was never a brother to Matt then this pain will end." Mark stated.

Mark hoped with all his being that this would last a bit longer. He wanted to inflict as much pain as possible on Sam. Sam deserved all this pain and more for killing his brother Matt. Looking towards the wall where Braddock was shackled he hoped he would see the reaction he was hoping for, desperation to free his teammates from the pain.

Sam used all his willpower to keep his gaze on a spot on the wall opposite where Spike and Lou were currently being tortured. He _refused_ to give Mark what he wanted…again. Sam hoped that if he didn't give Mark the reaction he was looking for then he would turn his anger on him instead of the team. This was his goal. Sam knew he could handle the pain, but he wasn't sure how long the rest of his team would survive it.

Ed seethed as his gaze travelled between Mark, Spike, Lou, and Sam. Mark was clearly set out to torture his men by electric shock with the Tasers. Spike and Lou had only been shocked once so far but he could see the fingers on the triggers, ready to send another shock through the wires.

When Ed looked at Sam his anger boiled even more. Yeah, he had appeared to have it all together and be on Sam's side during his beating. But that was only because Ed believed that Mark wanted to see him get angry with Sam. Ed was not about to give Mark the satisfaction of seeing him angry at Sam. It had little to do with Sam but more to do with Ed maintaining as much control of this situation as he could. Which was extremely minute. But Ed was thankful he was able to keep it in check until Mark had left the room.

Now though, now he was beyond pissed and it was taking everything he had to contain his anger at Sam while Mark was in the room.. Sam clearly didn't care for his team. In fact, he was completely ignoring Mark, Spike, Lou, and the other two guys.

Sam's so called friends, teammates, were in pain and Sam wasn't even sparing them a glance. _When I get my hands on you Braddock you're a dead man._ Ed thought in anger. You don't just disregard your team like that.

Mark motioned for his men to shock to two officers again. The brunette was talking to him, trying to get him to stop, but he was ignoring her. He would have his way, his fun, with her later. For now though he was focused on the other two.

After the second shock Mark ignored the sounds of pain from the two officers before him and looked to Braddock. Sam still had a bored look on his face. _Was my intel wrong? Does he really not care for his team the same way they do not seem to care for him?_

Mark decided to tell him men to administer one more shock to the officers. If he didn't get a reaction out of Braddock then he would move on with his plans.

Sam inwardly cringed as he heard the cries of pain from Spike and Lou. He knew what it felt like to have the fire of electricity coursing through your veins. They all did. They had to experience a shot from a Taser during training for the Police Force. His Special Forces SERE training also included training for withstanding electrical torture. Being electrocuted hurt like hell. But Sam wished he was the one being shocked and Spike and Lou were not being subjected to it because of something that he had done.

He also hated that he had to be so cold towards his team right now. Sam wanted nothing more than to break free of these chains and get the whole team out before more pain was inflicted. Sadly though there just wasn't a chance. Sam had run through every option and there was just no way to get out right now. He had to wait it out to see if a way out presented itself.

Mark felt like there was a volcano inside that was just waiting to blow. He had shocked the two officers multiple times and Braddock hadn't even blinked their direction even once. _Fine, if that's how he wants to play it then we'll do it his way_. Mark thought as he turned his attention to Braddock. He signaled his third comrade and the water turned on once again.

Sam was surprised when the water above him came on once again. He hadn't been expecting it, but he didn't allow his shock to show. He simply lazily moved his gaze to meet Mark's as he turned his head to keep the water from hitting him in the face.

"Betrayal by a teammate, by a brother, is the worst kind of betrayal that one can suffer." Mark said as he slowly made his way to Braddock. "I can only imagine how Scarlatti and Young feel right know knowing that you, as their teammate, could have stopped it. But instead they were hurt _more_ because you wouldn't do what was necessary. It's _your_ fault that they were hurt."

Spike looked up to where Sam hung and shot him a glare. He and Lou were gasping for breath after being shocked with the Taser. The pain that was still coursing through his body after the electric shock was almost as bad as being shot. Spike couldn't believe that Sam would allow them to be tortured like this. Sam had at least _tried_ to get the guys to stop beating up Ed. Why hadn't he done the same for them? They were part of his team after all!

"If only you had done as you were told and admitted your failure as a friend and brother to Matt. But no, you apparently don't even care about your team because you didn't even _look_ at them. Not that it matters now. They have been shocked, and now it's your turn." Mark signaled again and the water stopped.

Sam's eyes never left Mark's. He knew what Mark was trying to do, make him feel guilty for the pain inflicted on Spike and Lou. It was working too. Sam felt horrible over the fact that he had to totally ignore what was going on with his teammates. However, he refused to let Mark know he was winning. He had to keep his focus on seeming to be uncaring about what happened to the rest of the team and finding a way out.

"Constable Braddock, or should I call you former Master Corporal Braddock. Do you know why people use water during electric torture?" Mark asked with a smirk on his face.

Sam knew the answer, he knew it intimately, but he would never give Mark the satisfaction of knowing that. Mark wouldn't have access to his service record either. Only the General or someone of higher rank had access to it it was so classified. Sam simply met Mark's gaze while keeping his face impassive and uncaring.

"Let me tell you. Water is used to reduce the electrical resistance of the skin and to increase the effect of the electric shocks." Mark smiled as he tented his hands and placed his chin on his fingertips. "I am sure you are aware of how, how shall I say it, _uncomfortable_ your teammates are after being shocked with the Taser. Imagine just how much more pain will be felt since you've been thoroughly doused in water. Oh wait, you won't have to imagine it. You'll get to _live_ it."

Mark stepped back and his two accomplices stepped forward. Instead of using Tasers this time they would use cattle prods that had been modified to cause maximum pain to his prisoner, but yet not be powerful enough to kill him. Mark still had more fun planned for Braddock after all.

Sam saw the cattle prods coming towards him and he knew he didn't have much time. He took a moment to try and relax knowing that his muscles were about to get quite a workout. Sam determined not to make a sound. Crying out in pain would only allow Mark to win this round and he _didn't_ want that to happen.

"It's time to set your veins on fire." Mark stated just before his men touched the cattle prods to Sam's skin.

All of Team One watched as the cattle prods made contact with Sam's body. Sam entire body went extremely rigid as it arched out from the wall. They all knew that Sam had to be in an extreme amount of pain and were surprised that he made no sounds whatsoever.

Sam gasped for air as the first of what was sure to be several electric shocks to his body ended. He had clamped down as hard as he could to keep from making any sound. He felt as though his body was on fire. His blood felt like white hot lava coursing through him. Sadly he knew that the feeling was only going to get more intense as the torture went on.

Time lost all meaning for Sam as the torture continued. He wouldn't be able to tell how many times he had been shocked nor the duration of each shock. All he knew was that the pain was in every nerve of his being, and was never ending.

Sam didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to hold on, how much more he could stand without finally letting out the cries that had been threatening to escape at each touch of the cattle prods. He could taste the blood in his mouth from where he had bitten his cheek and tongue in an effort to remain silent. As the electricity coursed through him yet again he lost his battle to be silent and stoic as a blood curdling scream wrenched from him as the men kept the cattle prods in contact with his skin for what seemed like an eternity.

The pain was too much. Sam's body finally went limp as the darkness consumed him. As he dropped into the blackness he hoped never to return. He deserved this death. He just hoped that his death would allow his team to be freed.

Sam's head dropped to his chest and blood trickled from his mouth as he fell into unconsciousness.

 


	5. Treatment

Mark's men released Sam from his restraints and he fell to the floor with a thud. They grabbed him by his arms, drug him across the room, and threw him unceremoniously on the metal plate where they shackled his hands and feet. This time he was spread eagle in the middle of the room with no slack in the chains for movement. They then left the room with Mark right behind them. The door closed with a click as it locked behind them.

Greg looked intently at Sam. He could see Sam's muscles still twitching from the electric shock and there was blood drying on the side of his mouth from where the young man must have bit himself. Greg could not imagine how his rookie had remained so quiet through so much pain. Sam's last, blood curdling scream had undone him. The pain and agony in that one scream was enough to affect even the most heartless person.

Greg knew that Sam had gone through extensive training as a JTF2 soldier. However, he had never given thought to the fact that he would have gone through training to resist torture. For a brief moment he couldn't help but wonder if Sam had experience with torture outside of his training. The possibility saddened him.

Wordy was extremely concerned for Sam. He could remember the pain of the electric current passing through his body when he did his Taser training. Sam had experienced it much more intensely with the cattle prods and Wordy could see burns on Sam's skin from where the cattle prods had made contact. Wordy knew that Sam would feel the pain from those shocks for quite a while yet.

Wordy was also concerned for Sam's mental state. He had seen what Sam had done. How Sam had appeared to completely ignore what had been happening with Lou and Spike, but Wordy hadn't missed the almost imperceptible changes in Sam as his teammates were shocked. It was hurting Sam to see them in pain as much as it was hurting them to experience it. He couldn't help but wonder if Sam would be the same once this was finally over.

Spike was still seething. He couldn't believe that Sam would allow him and Lou to be shocked like that. Didn't the man care at all for his team? Any decent human being would do what they could to stop another person from being tortured like they had been. That was what SRU was all about, helping people who needed it. Sam had not once tried to negotiate their way out of this, nor had he attempted any sort of tactical solution either. It was as if Sam was just waiting to die by the hands of the brother of the man he killed in Afghanistan. At this moment Spike felt like that would be the fitting end to this ordeal. At least then they wouldn't have to deal with a crazy ex-soldier who didn't care at all about his team.

Jules was so mad at Sam right now that she would probably Scorpio his ass if she had a gun. They were supposed to protect each other, look out for each other, and defend one another. But what had Sam done to protect his team? Nothing. Nothing at all. Her best friends, Spike and Lou, were in pain because Braddock didn't have the balls to own up to his own mistake. If they made it out of this alive she was going to hand Sam his ass.

Jules was brought out of her thoughts as the door opened and two men walked in. Both had side arms and one was carrying a box.

"Our boss isn't ready for anyone to die tonight so we've brought a few supplies." One of the men stated as he approached Jules. He pulled something out of the box before kneeling down in front of Jules. "I am going to put this shock collar on your neck. If you try anything, anything at all, while I am doing so then my buddy here is going to put a round into one of your friends. Do you understand?"

Jules nodded her head in understanding. She refused to be the reason one of her team was injured, unlike Braddock.

Once the collar was firmly on her the man undid the shackles on her wrists and replaced them with new ones. These had a chain about a foot long between them. It was enough that she would be able to use her hands for whatever was needed, but not enough to give her too much freedom. The man stood and stepped back as his comrade put the box on the floor in front of her.

"There are supplies in there for you to clean any wounds and water for you to share around. If you try and talk about a plan of escape, do anything other than clean wounds and offer water, or attempt to hurt either of us in any way you will feel a nice little shock to the collar." The man smirked as he and his friend moved to either side of the door. "You better get moving because I'm not going to give you freedom forever."

Jules nodded and slowly rose from where she had been seated on the floor. Her muscles were stiff and sore from sitting in the same place for so long. She tried to work some of the kinks out of her sore muscles as she moved to the box to survey its contents.

Inside the box there were eight bottles of water as well as some clean cloth that she could use to clean the burns on Spike and Lou. She was glad. She knew the burn marks from the Tasers would be hurting and she wanted to make sure that infection wouldn't be an issue.

"How are you Spike?" Jules asked as she knelt beside him. She could see the pain etched in his face.

"I've been better." Spike answered simply.

"Here, drink this." Jules handed Spike one of the bottles of water. "This might hurt a bit but I need to clean the burn marks so you don't risk an infection."

Spike simply nodded as he opened the bottle of water and took a long drink. His throat was dry and his voice hoarse from the screams that escaped during the torture. The water felt good going down.

Jules worked quickly and carefully to clean the burn marks on Spike's chest. She cringed each time he let a sound of pain escape. Jules felt horrible that she was causing him pain. As she worked on Spike then Lou she knew that if she had been in Sam's position she would have done absolutely anything that she could to spare the guys the pain that they went through. Once again she wondered if their ex-soldier had a heart underneath that tough exterior.

Once both Spike and Lou had their own bottle of water and their burns had been cleaned Jules walked around to the other side of the room.

"You holding up okay Wordy?" Jules asked as she handed him a bottle of water.

"I'm fine Jules. Please, don't waste time on me. Check on Sam. He's hurt the worst." Wordy encouraged. He didn't like the flash of anger he saw in Jules' eyes at his comment. _What is going on with her?_ He thought as she moved on the Ed.

"Ed, you okay?" Jules asked as she knelt down in front of him and handed him a bottle of water as well.

"I'm okay Jules. I'm sore but nothing some down time won't and an aspirin won't fix." Ed answered. His chest still hurt and he suspected that he had a couple of cracked ribs. But, it wasn't important at this time. What was important was getting out of here with his team still alive.

"How are the ribs?" Jules asked. She had a feeling he wasn't being completely honest with her.

"Fine. Are you guys doing okay?" Ed asked, needing a status on the rest of the team.

"Spike and Lou are still hurting. That won't change for a while." Jules sighed. "Why do you think Sam didn't do anything to help?"

"Move along!" One of the goons called when Jules spent too much time talking to Ed.

"Later." Jules whispered as she stood and moved on to Greg. "How are you holding up boss?"

"I'm fine Jules. You need to check on Sam. Please." Greg pleaded. He had no idea why Jules hadn't gone to Sam first.

Greg had a feeling that he and Jules were going to need to have a serious talk when this was all over. He could sense the hostility towards Sam brewing under the surface and that would _not_ be acceptable on his team.

Jules reluctantly stood and turned to where Sam was shackled spread eagle on the floor. He looked like he was still out of it. She paused for a moment and looked for the rise and fall of his chest to see if he was still breathing.

Sam could still feel the white hot pain coursing through his body. He had awoken when they dropped him on the floor but his body hurt so bad, his muscles still reacting to the shocks, that he didn't even have the energy to open his eyes.

As Jules tended to Team One Sam heard every word, said and unsaid. He knew that the team was still in pain. Sam knew that they blamed him for what was going on. He couldn't blame them. It was his fault after all. He wished the shocks had been enough to stop his heart. At least if he was dead his team had a better chance of getting out without too much more pain.

Sam began to feel a change in his surroundings as Jules talked with Wordy. The metal plate beneath him was lowering in temperature. He wasn't sure if the rest of the team had figured it out yet but they had also lowered the temp in the room. It was going to get cold in here.

When Jules placed her hand on his shoulder he didn't even more. He didn't know if he had the energy even if he wanted to.

"Sam, are you awake?" Jules asked, not really caring one way or another.

Sam simply nodded his head ever so slightly. The throbbing headache he was dealing with didn't appreciate it.

"I'm going to clean the burns on your chest. It might hurt." Jules explained. What she didn't say was that she wasn't going to be too careful either.

Jules went straight to work when Sam didn't acknowledge her. She was irritated at the fact. The least he could do was blink or something. Instead he had closed his eyes and seemed to be ignoring her. She was less than careful when cleaning out the multiple burns from the cattle prods. At this point she didn't care if she was hurting him or not.

Sam did his best to ignore the stabs of pain where Jules was cleaning his burns. Between that and the killer headache it was all he could do to keep his focus and not cry out in pain, especially as she worked on the worst of the burns.

Sam knew from the pain in his head, and the fact that his vision blurred each time he tried to open his eyes, that he had a pretty good concussion. He just added that to his growing list of injuries.

Jules was surprised when Sam finally opened his eyes. It took him a long moment but he was finally able to focus on her and she was caught off guard by the look of pain in his blue eyes. She wasn't expecting it after the way he so easily seemed to dismiss the torture.

"How are you feeling Sam?" Jules asked as she wiped away the dried blood around his mouth.

"Fine." Sam whispered. He didn't need the team worrying about him when there were other more important matters.

"If I help lift your head some do you think you can take a drink?" Jules asked. She hadn't missed the hoarseness of Sam's voice and knew a sip of water would work wonders for his sore throat. However, she wasn't sure why his voice was hoarse if he only screamed once.

Sam blinked once slowly in answer.

Jules reached under his head and raised it up some as she held the water bottle to his mouth. Sam took a small sip and closed his eyes as he rinsed the blood out of his mouth with the water. He turned his head to the side opposite Jules and spit the combination of blood and water out. Now that Sam finally had the blood out of his mouth he would be able to swallow some water.

Once again Jules lifted Sam's head just enough to allow him another drink of water. She had been surprised when he spat out the last drink, that was until she saw the amount of blood that he spat out. It seemed as though mister big bad Special Forces bit his tongue.

Sam swallowed the drink of water and held in a sigh. The liquid helped to sooth his sore throat.

"Give the rest to Spike and Lou." Sam said softly as he eyed the rest of the bottle of water. He wanted to make sure the guys were taken care of as much as he could.

"Fine." Jules then stood and took the water to Spike and Lou.

"Back to your place." One of the goons stated. He followed her and re-shackled her to the wall before taking off the shock collar.

Both men then left without another word and the room descended into silence. Ed drew in a deep breath as he wondered what torture was up next, and who it would be directed at.

Ten minutes later Jules shivered.

"Does anyone else think it's getting cold in here?" Jules asked as she looked around at the team.

"I thought it was just me." Spike answered. He had noticed the temperature change but thought it was somehow a side effect of the electric shock.

"Sam?" Wordy called softly. He had seen how hard Sam had hit his head, twice, and knew that Sam had to be battling a headache from hell.

"Yeah Wordy?"

"How are you holding up? How bad is your concussion?" Concern could be heard in Wordy's voice.

"I'm good Wordy." Sam was getting cold. Not only had the temp in the room dropped but now he was convinced that the plate below him was getting colder. They must have rigged it ahead of time just for this.

"We're going to get out of here Sam. Just hang in there. We're all going home, together." Wordy believed with everything in him that they would get out. One way or another.

"We're in this together Sam. We are here for you just as you are here for us." Greg added. He needed Sam to know that he had someone on his side.

Any response to Greg and Wordy's words were drowned out as the sound of gunfire suddenly erupted in the room. The sound was almost deafening. It didn't take but a moment for Sam to realize what was happening. He closed his eyes tight and swallowed hard and sounds of explosions were added to the noise.

Mark's next form of torture was going to be with sound and cold which would also cause them to not get any rest whatsoever.

Sam simply hoped that the sound of a war zone around him wouldn't mentally send him back to Afghanistan. Even as he had those thoughts, however, he knew the flashbacks were imminent.

Sam took a deep breath as he was transported back to Afghanistan, to one of the worst firefights of his life.


	6. Flashback

Lou hurt. Every bit of his body was in pain from the Taser torture that he and Spike had endured. However, his thoughts weren't on his own pain, but on Sam.

He knew how much it hurt to be electrocuted with something more than a Taser. Lou had helped his dad do some electrical work in their house one summer and they had missed flipping a breaker. Lou had gotten quite a jolt from the socket that they had been working on. He could still remember how his body had hurt for days after that.

This is precisely why his thoughts weren't on himself, or even Spike, but on Sam. He knew that his teammate was in a lot of pain and the drop in temperature wouldn't help Sam relax any time soon. Sam was going to be in a good deal of pain, and for quite a while.

When the sound of gunshots and explosions started Lou knew that Mark was trying out a psychological torture. The cold and loud sound would ensure that they suffered from sleep deprivation. Not to mention, depending on how cold it got, they could be dealing with hypothermia.

But the sounds would provide another level of torture for their Army vet. Lou knew that the team was not enjoying the sounds of gunshots and explosions at the volume level they were being blasted at. But, he knew that the sounds and previous torture could potentially send Sam back mentally into the warzone that he had left behind. Lou was afraid that Sam would have a flashback and how that would affect him.

Lou wished he could go to Sam and talk with him, remind him that he wasn't back there in the desert and that he wasn't alone. But that wasn't possible. Which is why, in his weakened state, he wanted to actually cry when he saw Sam's eyes slam shut and his head jerk from side to side. It was evident that a flashback wasn't just going to be a possibility. It was a reality!

As Sam lay shivering on the metal plate his head whipped from side to side and Lou could see that he was muttering something. He was too far away, and Sam's words were too soft, for him to know exactly what was being said though.

Glancing up Lou met Greg's eyes. Both men had the same train of thought and both wished that there was something that they could do to comfort the young rookie on their team. But there was just no way. They couldn't go to Sam; they were still shackled to the wall. They couldn't call out to him; the noise in the room was at such a high volume that they would have to scream loudly to be heard even a little bit. All they could do was sit and wait, and be there for Sam when it was over.

During the cold hours that followed Lou couldn't help but think about everything that had gone on since they had arrived and something that Mark had said was plaguing him. Mark had said that the team was there simply to provide more psychological torture for Braddock. The man was trying to do more than break Sam physically. He was trying to break him mentally too. As Lou watched Sam's movements he knew that it was working. If something didn't happen fast Sam would break and Lou didn't know if they would be able to put all the shattered pieces back together again.

Lou simply sat and watched as Sam clearly struggled with whatever memory was plaguing him. He hoped that the sounds would stop soon and that he would be able to reassure Sam that they were there for him. Lou just didn't know how long it would be, or what state they would be in when silence once again reigned.

* * *

"Matt! No!" Sam screamed as he attempted to sit straight up but was caught short by the chains on his wrists.

Suddenly the room went eerily quiet. The team was shocked not only by the sudden silence in the room, but by the pain filled scream that came from their teammate. No one had been expecting it and whether they wanted it to or not it had shaken each of them to the core.

"Sam?" Lou asked tentatively after several long moments of silence.

"Sam? Are you with us?" Greg asked, his worry clear in his voice.

"I'm fine." Sam answered simply, his voice hoarse and his body shivering.

"Sam, we're just worried about you." Lou said softly. He hated the pain that he could see in Sam's face.

"Just a bad memory is all."

"From when Matt died?" Lou asked cautiously.

"No." Sam took a deep breath. "From the day he almost died right next to me because of a decision _I_ made."

Wordy closed his eyes and sighed quietly. He knew that _had_ to be a bad memory for Sam.

"Want to talk about it?" Wordy asked carefully.

Sam thought for a long minute. No, he didn't really feel like talking about it. But, at the same time, he had never really forgiven himself after that mission. Matt had almost died because _he_ thought it was a good idea to go out in the field that day.

"We, uh…" Sam swallowed hard. "We had just finished helping the American's with a mission. We had a day before our ride back to our base was to pick us up when we heard what was going on. A platoon had gotten cut off and was surrounded by hostiles. The helo that went in to get them out had been shot down in the middle of the chaos. They were gearing up to go back out and attempt a ground assault with helo cover and I suggested to Matt that we hitch a ride and see what we can do from the air."

Sam paused for a moment as he took in as deep a breath as his bruised ribs would allow.

"When we got there we realized that the helo pilots were in trouble. They were separated from the rest of the platoon and hostiles were coming in hard and fast towards them. Matt and I asked for permission to insert ourselves and provide cover for the helo until either help arrived, or we could rendezvous with the platoon."

"What happened when you got on the ground?" Greg asked curiously as he guided Sam through the memory.

"We worked our way to the helo and provided cover. It was about five minutes later when a rescue helo came in and we helped them lift the pilots out." Sam answered simply.

"But it didn't end there." Lou stated. It was clear to him that there was more to the story.

"No. Once the pilots were lifted to safety Matt and I made our way to the Platoon where we helped with cover sniper fire until the standoff was over." Sam answered as he stared at a spot on the roof. "It was about thirty minutes before the cavalry arrived that Matt was hit in the chest. By time we got back to the U.S. base and Matt got help he was almost dead."

"But he survived." Greg stated.

"No thanks to me. It was my idea to go in. If we had just minded our own business then we wouldn't have been there, and Matt wouldn't have almost died." Sam said quietly.

For once Greg wasn't entirely sure what to say. He could hear that Sam was still beating himself up over the incident. However, Greg didn't think that anything he said right now would alleviate the guilt. After all, they were in this situation due to Mark wanting revenge on Sam. Now wasn't the time to deal with past guilt over the same issue, someone getting hurt due to something Sam decided or did.

"Does anyone have any idea how long it's been?" Ed asked after a long moment of silence. He didn't want to talk about Sam's flashback any longer. It was making him start to feel guilty over his behavior towards Sam and he wasn't ready to admit that he was wrong yet.

"Not a clue." Spike piped up. He was usually a good judge of time but he in this case he was baffled.

"Eighteen hours." Sam stated simply.

"What?" Jules asked, speaking for the first time since the sounds started.

"It's been eighteen hours since the sound began." Sam replied, keeping his gaze on the roof.

"And how would you know that Braddock?" Ed asked, not believing Sam for a moment.

"Because…" Sam took a breath before meeting Ed's gaze. "That's how long the firefight lasted on that mission. The sounds he blasted, that was a recording from the mission with the communications scrubbed off of it."

Lou closed his eyes and took a deep breath. That would explain why Sam had that particular flashback. He was reliving it because it was the actual recording from that mission.

"I think we need to be prepared for Mark to come back." Wordy commented sadly.

"Yeah, he always shows up when you least want him to." Jules added irritatedly.

"You mean like right now?" Mark asked as the door swung open. "Man, it's chilly in here." He stated as he entered the room, his three goons close behind. "Let's warm it up a bit shall we."

The team knew that it would take time for the room to warm, but that didn't mean that they weren't grateful for the reprieve.

"Now, I think it's time for another chat Braddock, what do you say?" Mark asked as he knelt down above Sam's head and smirked at him.

Sam simply met Mark's gaze and kept his comments to himself. He had vowed to remain silent when Mark was in the room and he wasn't about to break that vow now.

"Chain him up." Mark commanded.

The three men came forward and roughly unchained Sam from his place on the cold plate on the floor. They positioned him below the hanging chains and forced his hands over his head to chain them up once again.

Sam swallowed a groan as his body protested being stretched in such a way yet again.

"Braddock, you look a bit thirsty." Mark turned approached Sam with a large bottle of water in his hands. "Let's get you a drink shall we."

One of the goons stepped forward and jerked Sam's head back while pinching Sam's nose shut. This forced Sam to breathe through his mouth if he wanted to get any air at all. Mark then proceeded to pour the bottle of water into Sam's mouth.

Jules cringed as she watched Sam deal with the copious amounts of water being forced down his throat. She knew what it was like to feel like you were drowning. There was a time when she was a child that she had gone swimming with her brothers and she had almost drowned in the deep end before her brothers rescued her.

She knew that Sam's lungs would be burning for air even as he swallowed as much water as he could. Jules also knew, however, that despite his best efforts Sam would most likely end up with water in his lungs. If they didn't get out of here soon Sam would risk getting pneumonia.

For the first time since this ordeal had started Jules started to wonder if they had somehow been wrong about Sam.

As soon as Mark finished pouring water down his throat Sam started coughing. Despite his best efforts he knew that some of the water had entered his lungs. After several deep coughs Sam's body reacted to the massive amount of water forced upon him and he began to vomit. All the water that he had just ingested ended up on the floor of the cell as Mark chuckled nearby.

"Looks like you weren't thirsty after all." Mark sneered.

Sam finished heaving, took several deep breaths, and then forced his gaze to meet Mark's once again.

"Well, I've spend some quality time with Ed Lane, your Team leader. As well as Scarlatti and Young, the teammates that are as close as brothers." Mark put his hands together, touched his fingertips to his chin, and slowly looked at each member of team one. "Who shall I chat with next?"

Sam was careful to keep his gaze from meeting any of his team. He knew that at least half of them were beyond pissed at him, and he wasn't sure how long the other half would stay in his corner if the torture continued.

"Constable Wordsworth." Mark walked over to stand in front of the man. "How close are you with Braddock here?"

Wordy simply met the man's gaze. He knew what Mark was doing and he wouldn't let it work.

"You have a beautiful family Kevin. I wonder what your daughters would think if they knew that you were letting their Uncle Sam be tortured right in front of you and yet you weren't doing anything." Mark grinned. "Would they still think that their father was a superhero?"

Mark turned and walked across the room.

"You know. I had planned to have some one on one time with Mr. Wordsworth. But, I think I'm going to change my plans a bit." Mark stopped in front of Jules. "Let's move this feisty piece of ass to the center of the room."

Two of the goons stepped forward with a bar that was about two feet long. On each end were shackles that they quickly attached to her feet. Jules wanted to lash out at them but the third was holding a gun to Spike's head and she didn't want to be the cause of him getting shot.

Once they had her feet shackled they released her hands and pulled her to a standing position. They then carried her over to where Sam had been shackled and forcer her on her back. She couldn't keep in the gasp as her back made contact with the metal plate. It was freezing cold.

The goons shackled Jules' hands above her head and to each corner of the metal plate. They then attached another chain to the bar at her feet to the bottom. She was effectively chained spread eagle on the chilled metal plate just as Sam had been.

"Now, before I have my chat with miss Callaghan I have a few things I want to do over here." Mark turned to one of his men and accepted a large machete from him. "Did you know that a person can be stabbed in several places and it not be lethal. Well, usually that is. You just have to know where to go. In fact, there are a lot of things that one can do with a knife without killing the subject."

Mark walked around behind Sam and slowly drew the tip of the knife across his back. Sam sucked in a breath as the pain radiated from the cut, but once again managed to keep all sound from escaping.

"The key is to know where all the major arteries are."

Again the knife made contact with Sam's body. This time on his side.

"You don't want your subject to bleed out before you're done having your fun."

A cut across Sam's chest was added to the collection.

"In fact, if a person knows what they are doing they can actually slide the knife between a couple of ribs…" Mark placed the tip of the machete to Sam's chest. It was to the left side of Sam's chest, but not over the heart. "…and not even hit anything that would kill a man." Mark slowly slid the machete into Sam's chest.

Sam's eyes slammed shit as he bit his cheek in an attempt to keep his cry of pain from escaping. He managed to keep most of the sound in, all except a long, low groan of pain as the blade entered his body before being slowly withdrawn. He took several quick, deep breaths as Mark smirked at him.

"In fact, these cuts won't kill Braddock. He won't even bleed out from them. Well, at least he shouldn't." Mark chuckled. "But I think I'll add a couple more just for fun."

Mark then added a few small cuts to Sam's arms, chest, sides, and back. Once he was finished he stepped back to admire his handiwork in the cuts all over Sam's body.

"I'm not done with you yet Braddock, but, I can't wait any longer to get to know your Sexy Sniper Chick."

Mark turned. He didn't see it but the men of team one saw the deadly glare that was hurled at the back of Mark's head as he turned to Jules. Each one knew exactly what was about to happen, and all were helpless to stop it.

"Don't you dare touch her, you sick bastard!" Spike yelled as Mark approached Jules.

"Or what Scarlatti? Are you going to come over here and beat the living daylights out of me?" Mark sneered as he glanced at Spike. "I didn't think so. You're still chained to the wall. You couldn't save her even if you tried!"

Mark took a knee at Jules' side.

"Cut off the chiller under this plate, it's freezing." Mark commented as he gazed at the beautiful woman bound spread eagle before him.

 _Wait, that metal plate is chilled? No wonder Sam was shivering so much._ Spike thought briefly. He had been wary of that metal plate from the beginning and now he knew why.

"Julianna Callaghan, sexy sniper chick and only woman in the SRU." Mark took the machete in his hand and slowly popped the buttons on Jules' shirt. "I know you've been with plenty of men before, you're too beautiful for you not to have been. But now it's time you see what a _real_ man can do."

Mark's grin widened as he gazed at the woman. Her shirt now lay off to the sides as he had effectively popped each button up her blouse. As he gazed at her chest, clad only in a bra now, he couldn't help his body's reaction. This was going to be sweet. He leaned down to kiss Jules only to have her snap out at him in an attempt to bit him. Mark smirked.

"Now, now, now. We can't have you biting me now can we." Mark placed a hand around her neck, restricting her airflow, as he leaned down and claimed her mouth.

Jules thrashed around as much as she could as Mark kissed her. But her attempts were futile. She wasn't going anywhere, and she wouldn't be able to get him off of her the way she was bound. Jules knew she was at his mercy and that thought scared her more than anything.

Sam was fuming mad. He had forgotten the pain that radiated from most of his body as he watched Mark with Jules. It killed him to see her at Mark's mercy and there not be a damned thing he could do about it. Sam would snap Mark's neck right now, no hesitation, if he could.

Lou cringed as he watched Mark kissing Jules. He could clearly see the man's hand that wasn't choking her groping her chest. He wished that there was something that they could do to help Jules, but there wasn't. Each of them were still chained to the wall. Or, in Sam's case, the roof. Not that there was anything Sam would be able to do either.

"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt but the General is on the line for you." A man stated from the doorway. The team had thought that there were only three men helping Mark. Now they knew that there were at least four.

"Damn. And just when things were getting good too." Mark growled as he took his hand off of Jules neck. He was pleased at the hand print that was now on her neck. He would have to add to that later. "It seems I must go for now my dear Juliana. But don't worry, we'll pick things up right where we left off."

At that Mark stood and grinned at Sam.

"It's time to go see what General 'Badass' Braddock wants. I wonder if your dear old daddy knows that you're missing yet."

With that Mark and his goons left the room, leaving the team angry and confused.


	7. Samtastic

As soon as the door clicked shut behind Mark the room was filed with angry voices.

"I swear if he puts a hand on you again…" Ed was saying.

"What Ed? What are you going to do? You know good and well that there is _nothing_ that we can do chained up here like rabid animals." Wordy responded.

"I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him!" Spike was chanting. He was pulling at his chains trying to get free so that he could protect his teammate and friend.

"Guys we need to calm down and think about this! Getting angry and lashing out like this isn't going to help _anyone_." Greg was trying to reason with his angry team.

"Braddock, so help me, if he rapes me I am going to kill you more slowly and painfully than he ever could. This is all _your_ fault. We are here because of _you_. This is all on you!" Jules screamed as she pulled at her restraints. She couldn't believe that man had touched her the way he had. "You don't even care about us! About how he's treating us! You're just over there like you're better than all of us. You're supposed to be a part of this team and right now the only thing you are is the source of _pain_!"

"Guys. Guys!" Lou called trying to get their attention. The team was reeling out of control now because every person in the room wanted nothing more than to rescue Jules from the threat Mark had made towards her.

But Lou had seen something that no one else had. He had seen Sam's face and knew that his teammate's breaking point was imminent. He could see the indescribable pain in Sam's face. Here Sam was, chained up, beaten, almost drowned, and bleeding, and there was nothing that he could to rescue Jules from what Mark had planned. Yet here the team was, well most of them, hurling the blame at Sam as if somehow this really was all his fault. All Sam had done was follow an order. An order that had gotten his best friend, his brother, killed. Now they were all just dealing with a man out for revenge. There wasn't _anything_ that Sam could have done to foresee this, or to prevent it.

" **GUYS**!" Lou screamed at the top of his lungs. He waited for several beats as everyone in the room except Sam simply looked at him. "You are all acting like five year olds! You're blaming Sam for something that is out of his control. I mean come _on_ guys! Greg and Wordy already get it, the rest of you aren't dumb. Think about it. Why wouldn't Sam look at me and Spike during our torture? What happened during Ed's? He begged Mark to stop and it made it worse. It was exactly what Mark wanted. Didn't you see his reaction? He _wants_ us to be pissed at Sam and you're playing right into it."

Lou took a deep breath as he saw that he was finally getting through the hard heads on the team.

"Do you remember what Mark said about why we were here?" Lou met the gaze of first Spike, then Jules, then Ed. "He said, 'You are here purely to provide more pain and psychological torture for Braddock.' Have you even thought about what that means?"

Lou paused to let his words sink in. He could see that he was finally getting through to the team. Now he just needed to get them all on Sam's side, willing to help, before he'd be done.

"Think about this. Why would us being here, us being tortured, provide more torture for Sam, if he didn't care about us? It only works because he cares for us and he's a protector. From day one he's done nothing but his best for this team. He's had our backs more than we've had his. Starting the moment we got here he's done nothing but try and help us!" Lou sighed. "When Mark was beating Ed Sam tried to get him to stop. Sam screamed at Mark to let him take Ed's punishment. But instead Mark increased the beating on Ed. That's why Sam's seemed impassive ever since. He had to to protect us."

Lou looked to Spike and could see the wheels turning in Spike's head.

"Spike, why do you think he completely ignored us while we were being shocked?"

"I thought it was because he didn't care." Spike answered quietly. He was starting to see that he had been wrong. So completely wrong.

"But it wasn't because he didn't care…was it?" Lou encouraged.

"No." Spike swallowed hard as he looked to where Sam hung. His teammates head was lowered to where his chin rest on his chest and he could see the quick breaths that Sam was taking in, as well as Sam's blood dripping on the floor below and mixing with the vomit that was there. "He was trying to lessen our pain."

"That's _right_." Lou half smiled. "He was just looking out for us buddy. Think about it. Mark wanted a reaction out of Sam. Because he didn't get it he ended our torture sooner than he would have otherwise. Think of the pain Sam spared us from."

"I've been so wrong." Spike whispered as he looked down at the floor, ashamed.

"And you Ed. You've been nothing but a big old bully to Sam from the moment he joined the team. You're our Team Leader, our example. Why do you treat Sam differently than you did all of us when we joined the team? Is it because we didn't pick him? Well let me tell you something Edward Lane. You need to seriously rethink your leadership methods if you want me to respect you from here on out."

Ed swallowed hard. Lou was right, his actions towards Sam up to this point were beyond unacceptable. Why _had_ he treated Sam differently? Ed knew it was because of Sam's background. He had expected perfection from Sam from day one and had been pissed when Sam was anything but.

Looking up Ed looked at Sam, really looked at him, for the first time since they had arrived here. Sam was thoroughly beaten and exhausted both physically and emotionally. Had he had a part in that? The answer was clear to Ed. Yes! The state of his teammate was just as much his fault as Mark's. Now he wondered if he was ever going to get the chance to make things right with Sam. Would they even make it out of this alive? Would Sam?

"And you Jules. You're worse than any of them. I thought you were a good profiler. One of the best on the team! But, somehow, you've blinded yourself to who Sam really is. He is a man that is still hurting over the loss of his best friend and you can't even see that! Do you think seeing Mark treat you that way was _easy_ for Sam?" Lou took another deep breath. His anger at his team was dissipating and he hoped that his words really had gotten through to them.

"All you see in Sam is his faults, but you've never once acknowledged that he has strengths too. I mean think about it. What man do you know that can take what's been done to Sam and keep as silent as Sam has. Sam had been beaten, electrocuted, stabbed, cut, water forced down his throat, and chilled to the bone and yet not made but a single sound of pain. That's not _normal!_ " Lou looked around at his team and saw an approving smile from Greg.

"None of us have treated Sam like we should have since the moment he joined the team. All of us are at fault here. I simply hope that I get the chance to _begin_ to fix things with Sam. I pray it's not too late." At that Lou leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. His words to his team had taken everything out of him and he was completely drained. He decided to let his team think on his words in peace.

Jules was reeling inside. Lou was right, about everything. They had all acted horribly towards Sam simply because he hadn't joined the team in the traditional way. She had no clue _how_ Sam had endured everything that he had, and so silently to boot. As she looked up at Sam her heart suddenly broke for the ex-soldier as she finally began to process what he had gone through with killing Matt, and everything else up until this moment. Sam was stronger than all of them, a better person that any of them ever would be. And yet there was a very real chance that he wouldn't be leaving here alive.

Jules closed her eyes as a tear escaped. What had they done?

Sam had heard every word, every single word, that had been spoken and it helped begin to heal the shattered pieces of his soul. He hadn't thought that the team liked him at all. Sam had felt as though he had intruded on a tight knit family that would rather he shoot himself in the privacy of his tiny apartment than take the time to get to know him. But now it seemed that they were finally starting to see him for who he was.

Pain flared in his chest again and Sam took a slow deep breath. He had to get his pain under control before he could do anything, and he had to do something quick because he didn't know how long it would be before Mark came back in and made good on his promise to violate Jules in every way.

Sam focused what energy had left inwards. He closed his eyes and concentrated on filling his lungs with one long, slow breath after another. Sam counted out the breaths in his mind as he used his sniper and survival training to push the pain down so that he could do what needed to be done.

Finally, after several long minutes he slowly opened his eyes and spoke into the dead silence.

"Spike, how many pounds of pressure is needed to snap a chain?"

Spike looked up. He had heard Sam say his name but wasn't sure what else the man had said.

"What?"

At this point the men had the attention of all of Team One.

"I asked how many pounds of pressure would be required to break a link in a chain." Sam repeated as he lifted his gaze to meet Spike's.

Ed sucked in a breath as he saw the determination in Sam's gaze. This was no longer the man that joined Team One. It wasn't the man who had been beaten to within an inch of his life. No, this was the look of a deadly JTF2 soldier who had a mission. Ed knew in that moment that they were going to be getting out of here, and soon. He just couldn't help but wonder how.

"Well, ummm….." Spike stammered. The question had caught him off guard. "It depends on a lot of things really. The temperature in the room. The condition of the chain. If there is already a weak link. What the chain is attached to."

Sam broke eye contact with Spike and looked up. He looked quickly and carefully at what he could see of the chain.

"Let's say the room is cold, the chain is in good condition, there is no weak link to be seen, and it's hung over a sturdy pipe in the roof." Sam stated as he looked back to Spike.

"Well, it also depends on how thick the chain is." Spike commented.

Lou almost laughed at how clueless Spike was at the moment.

"Let's say three hundred pounds is hanging from it." Sam almost smiled. He wondered how long it would take for Spike to catch on.

"Well, it could take anywhere from eight hundred to more than one thousand pounds of pressure. In all honesty there is a better chance of breaking the pipe it's wrapped around then the chain itself." Spike answered. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason really." Sam answered as he looked up again at the chain. He had heard rumor that this could be done. It was time to see if he could do it in his weakened state. The Special Forces soldier in him told him to just go for it.

Ed watched closely as Sam lifted up on the tip of his toes and grabbed the chains holding him just above the shackles. Sam then took a deep breath and twisted himself around, twisting the chains together as he did so. Once the chain was twisted around several times Sam adjusted his grip, closed his eyes for a moment, then let out a slow breath as he pulled himself up to where his feet were above his head. How Sam did that after being beaten so much, and in so much pain, was beyond Ed's comprehension.

The whole team watched as Sam pulled himself up the chain. It wasn't until Sam was a good seven or eight feet up the chain that he stopped. Jules could see his face clearly and the pain reflected in his eyes about undid her. She didn't know what he was going to try next but she knew that whatever it wasn't was going to cause him even more pain than he was currently in.

Sam pulled in a long deep breath, ignored the pain that radiated through every fiber of his being, and closed his eyes. It was time.

All of Team One watched, mesmerized by the site before them, as Sam let go of the chains. Sam fell to the ground with a sickening thud followed by a loud clanking as metal fell down around him.

As Sam hit the ground he felt pain rip through his shoulder accompanied by a sickening pop. He couldn't keep in a loud groan of pain as he lay on his side on the cold ground.

"Samtastic!" Spike whispered loudly in awe. He couldn't believe that Sam had actually tired it, and it worked!

"You can say that again." Lou agreed.

Sam ever so slowly moved to a seated position as he tried to push down the pain. He still had work to do. As he carefully pushed himself to a stand he looked around him at the broken metal pipe that lay on the floor at his feet. The chain that held him was still in perfect condition, but the pipe had broken freeing Sam, even if only a bit. That wouldn't stop him though.

Looking around Sam knew that his shoulder was dislocated. He knew that he couldn't fight with it in that condition. As his gaze met Wordy's he knew who to ask.

"Wordy, I need your help." Sam walked over to his teammate. "The fall dislocated my shoulder and I can't fight with it like this. Can you help me?"

"Sam I…" Wordy started to argue.

"Wordy, please. They're going to be back in here any minute. Now, I can fight through the pain, but I can't fight with a dislocated shoulder. Do you know how to rotate it back into place?"

Wordy took in a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah, I know how to do it."

Sam sank to his knees in front of Wordy and pulled his left arm close to his chest. He met Wordy's eyes and nodded. He was ready.

Wordy took in a slow, deep breath before putting one hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Are you ready?" Wordy asked as he looked Sam in the eyes.

"Just do it." Sam nodded as he gritted his teeth.

Wordy grabbed Sam's arm and rotated his shoulder up and in at just the right angle until he heard and felt the joint pop back into place. Sam, much to his credit, made not a sound. However, Wordy could see the pain Sam was in from his tightly closed eyes and clenched jaw. He kept his hold on Sam until the younger man finally let out a breath.

"Thanks Wordy."

"Anytime Sam. You okay?" Wordy was concerned.

"I'll be fine. They'll be in here any minute. I'm sure the sound alerted them to the fact that something was going on in here." Sam slowly stood and took in another breath. "What they don't know is that this time I'm ready for them."

Team One watched as Sam gathered the chain that had kept him bound for so long. He moved towards the door and had just taken up position where he wouldn't be seen upon someone first entering the room. Sam had gotten into position just as the door opened.

"What's going on in here?!"


	8. Beyond Negotiation

"What's going on in here?!" A voice boomed as the door swung open.

Sam was standing behind and off to the side of the door where the man wouldn't see him when he entered. It was great place for Sam as it gave him a few extra second before he was discovered.

Sam kicked the door closed behind the man who spun around in surprise. He clearly wasn't expecting Sam to be there, much less able to fight him.

As the man spun around Sam swung his chains with all his might, catching the man off guard and knocking him to the ground. While the man was still dazed Sam ran to him and punched him in the face a couple of times. The man wriggled around and managed to get in a couple of hits of his own. Despite the man's best efforts though Sam had gained the upper hand and it only took moments for Sam to put him in a choke hold, then a few moments more before the man passed out.

Sam dropped the man to the ground panting. That had taken a good deal of the energy that he had left. Sam wasn't sure if he would be able to find the strength needed to fight three more plus Mark. He had to find a way to get the team freed from their chains.

Slowly Sam stood and looked around the room. He spotted the chains on the wall where Jules had been chained and allowed a slight grin. _That will work,_ Sam though.

Taking a deep breath Sam dug for the strength needed to move the man. The team watched, fascinated at Sam strength and resolve, as Sam drug the man across the room. It took a lot of effort, and ignoring a lot of pain, for Sam to accomplish the job but several minutes later he was done. The man was now shackled to the wall where Jules had been not all that long ago. He wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Once the man was secured with the chains Sam took a half step back and drew in as deep of a breath as he could. He did his best to lock away the pain that radiated from every fiber of his being and focus on getting his team free now.

Sam searched the man from head to toe looking for something, anything, that would help him free the rest of Team One. He sighed in relief when he finally found what he was looking for. Keys!

Sam made quick work of getting the shackles off of his own hands. He breathed a sigh of relief when the chains fell to the floor. As he looked at his wrists he knew that they would bear the scars of those chains for a while to come.

Turning back to the team Sam made a quick decision of who to free next. He needed someone that could help him defend the team from anyone else who came in, or who could free the rest of the team. Wordy was the best option. He was their hand to hand expert and one of the only guys left that wasn't injured besides the Boss.

As Sam made his way across the room he heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door.

"Wordy!" Sam called to the other man. As Wordy met his gaze Sam tossed the keys across the room.

Wordy easily caught the keys that were thrown at him and quickly went to work on getting his shackles open. He knew he needed to get freed so that he could help Sam. Wordy clearly heard two distinct voices on the other side of the door. Sam would be outnumbered in moments.

"Come on Wordy!" Ed urged as he too heart the voices.

"I'm trying Ed." Wordy responded in a clipped tone. He was working as quickly as he could!

The door swung open just as the second shackle dropped form Wordy's wrist.

"Ed." Wordy tossed the keys to the other man as he stood and quickly joined Sam who was now fighting two to one.

Sam was doing his defend himself against the two goons in the room. He was drawing upon every ounce of energy that he had, all his survival training, to try and knock out the two men. But he just didn't have it in him. In his weakened state, with all his injuries, he was barely holding them off. That is until Wordy joined them.

As soon as Wordy tossed Ed the keys he immediately went to Sam's aid. He could see that the younger man was barely holding his own and knew that if he didn't get in the fight then they might just lose their rookie after all. Wordy came up behind one of the man that was trying to beat Sam up and pulled him away.

The man whirled around with fists already seeking a target. Wordy ducked the flying fists and came in under the man's raised arms, tackling him to the ground and knocking the air out of the man. Wordy wrapped his arms and legs around him until he passed out.

Meanwhile Sam was facing off with goon three of four. This man had at least a bit of martial arts training which was forcing Sam to draw upon his own in order to not get knocked out by the man. As they circled each other Sam noted that they were getting closer to Jules and he knew that would not be good.

As Sam faced the man he carefully moved him away from Jules who was still shackled to the ground. He made quick note of the fact that Wordy was engaged with the other man in an effort to knock him out. Ed on the other hand was quickly getting his shackles unlocked. He just had to keep this man occupied, or get him knocked out, before more goons showed up.

Ed watched Sam and Wordy even as he worked at his own shackles. He had one off but the second was being difficult and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because he was in too much of a hurry to get it off. Wordy had his man in a choke hold and would soon have him unconscious. Sam, on the other hand, he wasn't so sure would be able to knock this goon out. Ed could tell that Sam was doing his best to get the man away from Jules even while he defended himself against the attacks of the man. He knew he had to get freed to help, and soon.

Sam was carefully luring the goon away from Jules to keep either of them from hurting her where she lay shackled to the floor. He hated that any of the team had gotten hurt. But, if Jules was injured because of him he didn't know if he could live with himself. As they circled back around towards the wall Sam had an idea. He just hoped it wouldn't be the one that got him killed.

"Come on you idiot. Don't you know how to fight?!" Sam taunted as he took another small step back.

"Sam, what are you doing man?" Lew asked as he watched the fight unfold before them.

"Does he have a death wish?" Spike wondered aloud.

Sam almost smiled when the goon took the bait. The man lunged at him and Sam simply stepped to the side. He used the other man's momentum to propel him into the wall where the force of his head hitting the rock wall rendered the man unconscious and he slid to the floor.

"Oh, _that's_ what he was doing." Lew grinned.

"Finally!" Ed exclaimed triumphantly.

Sam turned and noticed that Ed had managed to finally get his shackles undone.

"Here Greg." Ed passed the keys off to Greg before heading over to where one of the goons lay on the floor. "Let me help you get these guys chained up before the rest show up."

Wordy, Sam, and Ed quickly worked at restraining the two men in the shackles that had just been vacated by Ed and Wordy. By the time that task was accomplished Greg had released his own shackles and was working to free Jules from the metal plate on the ground.

Wordy approached Sam and gently lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Good work Sam. I know you've got to be in pain, why don't you sit down." Wordy kindly suggested.

"Not going to happen until Mark and the last subject are contained." Sam stated as he fought the urge to sink to the ground where he stood.

Ed didn't have time to argue with Sam because, as had been the case up to this point, the subjects had impeccable timing. Just as Jules stood from where she had been shackled the doorway was darkened by another figure. This was the last subject to go through before Mark it seemed.

The man came rushing into the room, but, with five SRU officers freed and waiting for him he didn't stand much of a chance. He only got in one good hit to Wordy before he found himself pinned to the ground with his hands painfully pulled behind his back.

Wordy and Ed pulled the man across the floor and shackled him next to his buddies. They wouldn't be going anywhere until Team One said so.

As the guys took care of restraining the last man Greg quickly released the rest of his team. Lew and Spike were both very happy to finally be able to move around. Both still had sore muscles from the electric shocks that they had endured.

"Wordy, help me do one last check to see if they are carrying any weapons." Ed instructed. They had already searched the men once but Ed was hoping they would find something that could be used as a weapon.

"Sam, how are you holding up?" Lew asked as he approached his teammate.

"I'm fine. We need to find Mark." Sam answered.

Sam wasn't about to tell the team how much pain he was in. How he was pretty sure he was going to pass out as soon as the adrenaline was gone. He wouldn't tell them because they still had the most formidable foe ahead of them and he needed to keep his head in the game. Sam couldn't handle the concern that would follow should he admit to how he was _really_ doing. He pulled out his soldier persona even more now in order to accomplish the task ahead.

"Are you sure Sam? You don't look so good." Greg was concerned for his rookie, and the fact that Sam was brushing off their concern for his physical state.

"I told you… I'm _fine_." Sam pushed away from the team that was gathered around him and turned towards the door just as Mark's voice could be heard.

"You may be now, but you won't be for long." Mark snarled from the doorway.

Mark had been on the phone with the General when he decided to freshen up before having his way with the beautiful Julianna Callaghan. He was looking forward to it for so many reasons. He would not only get physical pleasure from it but he knew that watching him violate one of his teammates in that way would ultimately drive Sam to the edge emotionally. Mark knew that as he raped Jules he would be breaking Sam's spirit.

However, when he had gone looking for his men they had been nowhere to be found. He had a gut feeling that something had happened and so had retrieved his sidearm before heading to the room where he was torturing Braddock and his team. To say that he was surprised that Team One was free and his men were in shackles would be an understatement.

Mark raised his sidearm and fired off a shot into the room. He wanted to make sure he had their attention.

"Don't think that just because you're free you aren't going to suffer more." Mark growled as he lowered his weapon at Team One's Sergeant. "I'm going to take you out. One. By. One." He took half a step forward.

Ed started forward only for Mark to point his weapon directly at him instead.

"I don't care who dies first so come on. Just go ahead and try." Mark taunted.

Wordy glanced at Ed. His friend lifted his hand ever so slightly telling them to back down. As much as it went against everything within Wordy he took a breath to control his emotions. He saw the same emotions cross Spike, Lew, and Jules' faces too and he knew the team wanted to go into action just as much as he did.

"You all just don't get it do you?" Mark was enraged. "Braddock took my brother from me. He sat on a ridge two kilometers away with his .50 caliber rifle and blew a massive hole through my brother's chest. The damage to Matt's body was so extensive that…" Mark had to take a deep breath before raising his voice and continuing. "Braddock was supposed to be Matt's _best friend_! How could a best friend do that to someone? How could you do it? **How could you kill my brother you heartless son of a…"**

"SRU! Hand in the air!"

"Hands in the air!"

"SRU! Put the weapon down!"

The calls echoed through the room as Team Two poured in, guns at the ready should Mark make even the slightest of wrong moves.

"You can't stop what's to come." Mark said after a beat, his voice lacking any emotion.

"Sir, if you don't put the gun down then we are going to have to shoot you." Rollie informed the man simply.

Rollie knew that if negotiation would have worked then Greg would have been the one to get through. The fact that Team One was standing stone still told him that this man was beyond negotiation.

Greg saw the moment Mark made up his mind. He had switched from intent to murder to suicide by cop. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Mark would die today. Greg just hoped no one else would be injured in the process.

Mark took a long moment to observe Team One. This was it. He knew that he couldn't bring Matt back. He couldn't bring his dad back. He couldn't bring his mom back. His family was gone. He had nothing left to live for. Mark knew he had only one chance, he knew what he had to do.

Sam watched as Mark took the two seconds needed to look over Team One. Most of the others probably missed the fact that Mark was considering his options, but Sam knew. He also knew the moment Mark made his decision.

In the split second it took Mark to move the weapon that had been pointed at his own chest Sam launched himself at Mark's new target.

Sam's cry of "NO!" echoed through the room as two gunshots rang out and three people fell to the ground.


	9. Rescue

**SRU Headquarters**

SRU Headquarters was silent as those gathered around Winnie's desk listened to the audio from the Hot Call in progress. They had miraculously found a lead on Team One and Team Two had been dispatched to bring them home.

Norman Holleran was leaning against the dispatcher's desk next to General Jason Braddock as Team Three was gathered around. They were listening intently to what was going on, all while praying that both teams made it out alive.

 **Rollie: "** Alpha Team in position. Prepare to breach on my mark."

 **Shawn:** "Snake cam shows hallway is clear."

 **Rollie:** "Copy. Silent entry in three…two…one."

Everyone at the Barn stood stone still as they listened to Team Two silently breach the warehouse. As rooms were cleared General Braddock turned from the desk and started to pace. With each passing minute he feared that the intel was wrong. That his son wasn't really there.

One would think that Jason Braddock was used to waiting around as his men completed a mission. It's not that he wasn't, but missions that involved his son were different. They always had been. He had a reason to be more interested in those missions and he had always paced his office as he waited to hear word of how the men did on the mission, if there were injuries, and so on. He absolutely _hated_ when he knew his son was injured and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

This was one of those cases. He knew his son was injured. He knew there were boots on the ground doing their best to bring Sam home. Yet he paced. He paced as he worried about the damage to his son, both physically and emotionally. Jason would continue to pace until the mission was completed and he had word on Sam, until he could see Sam for himself.

He stopped in his tracks as a single shot was heard over the comms.

 **Rollie:** "We have an active shooter. Does anyone have eyes on him?"

 **Lucas:** "Sarge, I think I may have found the subject, and Team One."

 **Rollie:** "Darryl, Shawn, finish clearing the rest of the building. Everyone else with Hanson."

Even as Team Two moved they could hear the yelling from the room.

 **Mark:** "… on a ridge two kilometers away with his .50 cal rifle and blew a hole through my brother's chest. The damage to Matt's body was so extensive that… Braddock was supposed to be Matt's _best friend_! How could a best friend do that to someone? How could you do it? **How could you kill my brother you heartless son of a…"**

Jason Braddock sucked in a breath at the words. His heart ached every time the friendly fire incident was brought up because he knew how much pain his son was in because of it.

 **Rollie:** "SRU! Hands in the air!"

 **Lucas:** "Hands in the air!"

 **Doug:** "SRU! Put the weapon down!"

The calls echoed through the room as Team Two poured in, guns at the ready should Mark make even the slightest of wrong moves.

 **Mark:** "You can't stop what's to come."

Jason could hear the complete lack of emotion in Mark's voice and his heart dropped. Was Mark really going to shoot his son even with SRU pointing a weapon at him?

 **Rollie:** "Sir, if you don't put the gun down then we are going to have to shoot you."

Jason stood rooted in place for a long moment. He wished with all his being that he was there to resolve the situation himself. Instead he was falling back on his General persona and allowing those in the field to do their job.

 **Sam:** "NO!"

Jason Braddock's heart skipped a beat as he heard his son cry out followed quickly by two gunshots.

 **Rollie:** "Subject Neutralized."

 **Lucas:** "Winnie, we need EMS in here ASAP. We have an officer down with a gunshot wound and six others with various injuries."

"Copy, EMS is on their way in to you." Winnie responded before taking a deep breath. She was beyond relieved that Team One had been found.

"Rollie, who is the officer down?" Commander Holleran asked anxiously.

 **Rollie:** "Braddock. He sustained a gunshot wound to his left shoulder. Braddock also has numerous other injuries Sir."

Those around Winnie's desk could hear Rollie's team speaking with everyone on Team One, assessing them and taking stock of injuries.

"Report back when you have an update on where they are taking Team One." Holleran ordered as he turned to Jason Braddock.

"Sam." Jason whispered as he finally drew in a full breath.

"Sergeant Cray will keep us updated on his status and which hospital they are taking him to." Holleran placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "He's strong Jason, he'll pull through this. You have to believe that. Not just for yourself but for your son as well!"

Jason simply nodded his head in agreement. Holleran was right. His son was the strongest man he knew. He turned and resumed his pacing as he waited for more word on Sam.

* * *

**Warehouse**

Sam's cry of "NO!" echoed through the room as two gunshots rang out and three people fell to the ground.

"Sam!" Greg rushed to where his rookie had fallen after the gunshot rang out. Wordy quickly dropped down next to him and Rollie appeared on the other side of Sam.

Greg and Wordy heard Rollie reporting back to the Barn on the status of the call but their attention was elsewhere. Greg was carefully rolling Sam off of Jules where he had landed when he jumped to push her out of the line of fire.

"Jules?" Greg asked cautiously.

"Fine. Sam?" Jules asked. She was finally able to take a full breath as Sam's weight was shifted off of her. They had hit the ground hard and she had not only had the breath knocked out of her, but she had hit her head pretty hard as well.

"He's hit." Greg answered.

Wordy was already taking his shirt off and pressing it to the gunshot wound on Sam's left shoulder.

"Come on Sam. Hang in there." Wordy said softly as he watched Rollie check Sam's pulse.

"It's weak, but it's still there." Rollie commented as he met Wordy's eyes. "What happened here?"

"That's a long story Rollie. But the short version is that Mark Simmons was the angry brother of a man that died in Afghanistan. " Ed answered as he walked up to his friend.

"Ed, are you okay?" Rollie asked as he took in the sight of his friend and former TL. Ed looked like he had gone ten rounds in a boxing ring.

"I've seen better days but I'll live. Where is EMS?" Ed asked as he watched Greg and Wordy with Sam.

"Here." Hanson answered as he ushered several paramedics into the room.

Steve took one look around the room before turning to Sergeant Cray.

"Sergeant, who is the most critical?" Steve asked, he needed to know where to start.

"Braddock took a bullet to his left shoulder." Ed answered for Rollie. "Then check on Spike and Lou, they were hit with a Taser several times."

Steve immediately dropped down next to Sam and began working to stabilize the man. He didn't miss the fact that Jules was there, shirtless, as well. However, he pushed his thoughts about Jules aside and concentrated on the man before him.

Steve was shocked to see the map of scars on the man's body that were clearly from another time overlaid with new wounds. He worked quickly with his partner so that they could get the constable to the hospital as quickly as possible.

Greg took a step back and looked around the room. Paramedics were working on Sam and checking out Lou and Spike. He had heard that two more EMS rigs were en route and would be here shortly. Greg was thankful for that. He really wanted his whole team to get checked out at the hospital.

"Sarge." Rollie strode over to his former Sergeant and mentor.

"Rollie, thanks for coming for us." Greg turned and shook the other man's hand.

"Looked to me like you all had things pretty well in hand." Rollie stated as his gaze slowly traveled around the room. He didn't miss the pools of blood and vomit on the floors. "Just what happened here Greg?"

"How long have we been missing Rollie?" Greg asked. He was curious, but it would also help him put things into perspective.

"Two days." Rollie answered simply.

"I'm sure you've heard the gossip that surely been going around the Barn since our last call." Greg stated.

"There is a rumor. They say that Sam shot a friend in Afghanistan?" Rollie hated gossip. Too many times it ruined the lives and reputations of good people.

"Sam was cleared to take out a hotbed of terrorist. The rec was done and he was clear to fire. He didn't realize until he went down to do the ID's that one of the men he killed with his .50 cal rifle was his best friend Matthew Simmons." Greg took a deep breath and pointed to where Mark lay, dead. "Mark was his big brother and decided to come after Sam for killing his brother."

"So he was going to torture you all because of it?" Rollie couldn't believe it. It seemed like Sam Braddock had quite the past.

"He was going to torture us to get to him." Greg stated as he watched Steve and his partner move Sam to a gurney. "He knew that if he hurt us it would hurt Sam. Mark was trying to break Sam both physically and emotionally."

"Were heading out. Is anyone riding with Sam?" Steve asked as his partner finished strapping Sam to the gurney.

"I will." Wordy spoke up. "Where are we going?"

"St. Simons." Steve answered simply as they rushed Sam out.

"We'll meet you there." Greg called as Wordy rushed out to follow. He knew they would need to get Sam to the hospital as soon as possible. The other man had lost a lot of blood.

"Boss, we're heading out too." Lou informed Greg as he walked up and put a hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Wait! I want to look at this first." Spike commented as he broke away from the group and knelt down next to the metal plate that both Sam and Jules had spent time on.

Shawn, Team Two's techie, joined Spike. "What are we looking for?"

"This plate was chilled. I want to see if it was rigged to do anything else." Spike answered simply as he looked under the plate.

It only took moments for both Spike and Shawn to gasp.

"He didn't!" Spike swore under his breath.

"What is it Spike?" Ed asked as he and the rest of teams one and two gathered around.

"This plate it rigged to not just freeze whoever is on it…" Spike started.

"But it's also rigged to heat up too." Shawn finished.

"So whoever was on this thing…"

"Could have been barbequed." The techs once again finished each other's thoughts.

"Is that all?" Greg asked curiously. He wanted to know just how much danger Sam and Jules had been in.

"No." Spike stood, a look of horror on his face. "There is enough explosives under here to bring the whole building down."

"Is it armed?" Ed asked, the Team Leader in him bristling at the thought.

"No, but it will have to be carefully removed." Spike answered.

"I can stay and supervise a bomb squad." Shawn offered as he looked to both the Sergeants in the room.

"Sir, we're ready to go." One of the remaining paramadics stated as he approached Greg.

"Okay." Greg nodded his head in acknowledgement before turning back to the gathered SRU officers. "Rollie, Team Two, thanks for coming to get us."

"Anytime Boss." Rollie smiled. Old habits died hard, he still called Greg 'Boss'.

"Team One, let's go. They need to do a full check on each of us and I need to know how Sam is doing." Greg stated as he looked at his team.

Rollie watched as the rest of Team One left the room. Only after her knew they were safely away did he turn back to his team.

"Just what happened here Sarge?" Lucas Hanson, Team Two's sniper asked.

"One soldier was looking for revenge on another for something that happened in the field. Team One was tortured as a way of torturing Sam for something that had been completely out of Sam's control." Rollie answered.

Hanson turned and slowly walked around the room. He took in all the restraints, the pools of blood, the vomit and water on the ground. Whatever had happened here had not been pretty. He closed his eyes for a moment as he stood next to a broken pipe on the ground. Lucas knew who Sam Braddock was, he had met the young man many years ago. He hoped and prayed that Mark Hanson had not been successful. Sam Braddock was too good of a man, he didn't deserve whatever had happened to him here over the last two days.

* * *

**St. Simons Hospital**

It had been over an hour since Jason Braddock had listened to Team Two breach the warehouse where his son and Team One were being held. It had been a very _long_ hour. Thankfully he was finally at the hospital where his Son was being treated, even though he was still in the SUV. Commander Holleran had graciously offered to give him a ride over and Jason had taken the time to call his wife Sarah. That had not been an easy call!

As the SUV was put in park Jason took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the building before him.

"They arrived with Sam twenty minutes ago. Wordy says he's in surgery now." Holleran shared the information he had been given. He could see that the man beside him was a very worried father.

Jason closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the headrest. He took several deep breaths as he tried to calm his racing heart.

"Your son is a very strong young man. If anyone can come through this it's Sam." Holleran kept his gaze on the building in front of him.

"He's been through so much." Jason said softly as he opened his eyes. "I just want my son to have a happy life, a life without so much torment. Sadly that doesn't seem possible for him."

"Sam may have been through trying times in his life but there _is_ one thing that I know for sure. Samuel Braddock always comes out the other side stronger." Holleran turned to look at Jason. "Just think about it. What did Sam do after his sister's death?"

"He decided that he wanted to be a police officer. That first responder truly made an impression on Sam, even in his grief." Jason answered as he met Holleran's eyes.

"And Sam went on to become an officer. When he found that Jack Martin had been released from his sentence early he had been devastated. But instead of letting it eat him up he went and did more with his life."

"He joined the Army. Something I never thought he would do." Jason sighed and turned back to look out the windshield.

"Sam became the best sniper in the history of the Canadian Army. Sam isn't one to let something beat him. He is a survivor, a phoenix. He has gone through many trials in his life, but he always comes out the other side better and stronger than ever before." Holleran took the keys out of the ignition and looked at Jason once again.

"Sam comes out the other side because he has parents who love him unconditionally. No matter how much he thinks you do Sam really knows deep down that you don't blame him for Anna Marie's death. He knows that you love him. I, for one, believe that _that_ is what keeps him going. He knows that no matter what you are there for him. Even if he doesn't realize he knows it."

"Thank you." Jason whispered. He always struggled with knowing that Sam thought they blamed him for his sister's death. But maybe Holleran was right. Maybe deep down Sam _did_ know that they loved him. With that in mind Jason knew he could do this.

Jason exited the vehicle and strode purposefully to the emergency entrance of the hospital. He needed to know how his son was doing, and the extent of his injuries. As he entered the building the Emergency Room was a flurry of activity. Two ambulances had arrived while they had been sitting in the parking lot and the space inside was a hub of activity. Jason quickly identified the information desk and headed straight for it.

"My name is Jason Braddock. My son, Samuel Braddock, was brought in about thirty minutes ago with a gunshot wound among other injuries. Do you have any information you can give me?" Jason asked, he drew upon his General persona and stayed calm even as he anxiously awaited news for his son.

"May I see your ID please?" The nurse at the station asked.

"Yes, of course." Jason pulled out his wallet and passed her his military ID.

"General Braddock, your son is currently in surgery. The only information in the system is a gunshot wound to his shoulder. I'm sorry I can't give you more information at the moment." The nurse looked up at the General. I can show you to the private waiting room and inform the surgical staff that you are here. I the meantime there is some paperwork that needs filled out. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you."

The nurse handed him a clip board of papers just as Holleran walked up next to him.

"Commander Holleran, here to check on your officers?" The nurse asked. Sadly she recognized the SRU Commander. He often had officers in their care.

"Hi Stella, Yes. You should have constables Braddock, Lane, Parker, Callaghan, Wordsworth, Scarlatti, and Young in your care."

The nurse took a moment to look up the information.

"Braddock is in surgery with a gunshot wound to his shoulder. The rest of Team One is still in the ER being checked out." She was hesitant to give any info without privacy.

"Do you have any information on their conditions?" Holleran asked. It was then he noticed Stella's hesitancy. "He's with me, you can share the information."

Stella nodded as she quickly browsed the notes.

"So far it looks like Parker and Wordsworth don't have any injuries reported. Callaghan has a slight concussion. Constables Scarlatti and Young are being treated for electrical burns. Lane is being treated for injured ribs. It looks like the doctors are going to want to keep everyone overnight for observation and blood work." Stella then met the Commander's eyes. "If you want to wait with General Braddock in the private waiting room I can have someone come update you as soon as we have more information."

"Thank you Stella."

"Of course Commander. General Braddock, I'll come up in a bit to collect the paperwork."

"Do you need paperwork on the rest of my team?" Holleran asked.

"No sir, they are all able to complete their paperwork this time. Thank you for asking though."

Holleran simply nodded before turning to Jason. "Come on, I'll show you where the waiting room is."

Jason simply nodded and followed Holleran. Once they reached the waiting room Jason sank to one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the room and started in on the paperwork. Holleran paced the room as he set out making phone calls. He had to call the families of the officers and tell them which hospital they were at. Phone calls he always hated making, but at least this time it seemed the news wouldn't be as bad as it could be.

Nurse Stella came in after half an hour to check on the men and collect Sam's paperwork. When she noticed how tired the men were she went and got them piping hot cups of coffee from the nurse lounge. It tasted better than the stuff out of the machine down the hall.

Over the next hour the waiting room slowly filled. The first to arrive was Wordy's wife Shelly, then Mrs. Scarlatti and Lou's sister Andrea. The last to arrive was Sophie and Clark Lane with sack lunches. Holleran was beyond thankful for Sophie Lane who always took good care of anyone who was in the hospital.

Jason sat in the corner of the waiting room with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He had a headache building and with each passing minute his worry for his son increased.

The door to the room swung open once again and all eyes, except for Jason's, turned to the door. Each person hoping it was hospital staff with an update. Jason knew it wasn't a nurse though, the footsteps weren't that of hospital staff. He didn't even bother to look up.

Sarah entered the waiting room and immediate sought out her husband. She didn't miss the group gathered, or that they were looking at her, but she didn't care. Sarah needed Jason, and she knew that he needed her too. She found him seated in the corner with his head in his hands. She didn't miss the exhaustion in the slight dip in his shoulders. Most wouldn't notice, but she did. She knew him so well that she could see that her husband was exhausted, worried, and stressed.

"Jason." Sarah knelt down in front of her husband and placed her hands on his. "Jason."

Jason looked up as he left familiar hands on his, hear a soothing voice call his name. "Sarah." He breathed.

The Braddocks embraced and held each other for a long minute.

"How is Samuel?" Sarah finally asked. She almost dreaded the answer.

"No news yet, he's still in surgery."

Just then the door opened once again and three doctors entered the room. It seemed they finally had news.


	10. News

"We are looking for a Captain Norman Holleran?"

Holleran stepped forward. "I'm Holleran."

"Commander Holleran, my name is Doctor Cooper. Constables Wordsworth and Parker are in my care."

"How is Kevin?" Shelly asked as she took two steps forward.

"This is Shelly Wordsworth, Constable Wordsworth's wife." Holleran introduced Shelly.

"Mrs. Wordsworth, your husband is just fine. He only sustained a few bruises and his wrists sustained some abrasions. His wrists will heal in a few days. We are, however, going to keep him overnight so we can do some bloodwork. He told us that he and everyone else on the team were drugged and we want to ensure that there are no ill effects from that. He and Parker will be in room three hundred." Dr. Cooper explained with a bit of a smile.

"And Parker?" Holleran asked.

"We are keeping him overnight as well for observation but as with Constable Wordsworth he suffered no injuries from his captivity aside from a few bumps and bruises."

"Thank you Dr. Cooper."

"What about Mikey? Is my boy okay?" Mrs. Scarlatti asked, clearly worried about her boy.

"I'm assuming you're talking about Mike Scarlatti." Another of the doctors stepped forward.

"Yes, Michelangelo Scarlatti."

"I'm Doctor Harrison, I'm treating Constables Scarlatti and Young. Both young men are doing well. They are also undergoing blood work due to the sedative, and they too have abrasions on their wrists from being restrained. Each also sustained electrical burns on their chest. We are treating those and both should be able to be released in twenty-four to forty-eight hours." Dr Harrison also smiled. "I have placed them in room 304 and you should be able to see them shortly."

Andrea let out a sigh of relief. She was so thankful that her brother wasn't seriously injured. She always hated it when he ended up in the hospital.

"That leaves me. My name is Doctor Burkett. Constables Callaghan and Lane are in my care." Dr. Burkett looked around and made note of the woman who perked up at that news. _This must be Lane's wife._ He thought. "As with the rest of the team we are running blood work and treating the abrasions on their wrists. Constable Callaghan has a bruised windpipe and we will be keeping a close eye on her to make sure there is no permanent damage to her windpipe."

"That's good news." Holleran said quietly to himself.

"As for Constable Lane. It seems that he suffered quite a beating. Several of his ribs are bruised and two of them are cracked. There is slight bruising on his right kidney that we are keeping a close eye on. He also suffers from a minor concussion. We will be keeping him a minimum of forty-eight hours. He will be in room 203 and Constable Callaghan will be in 306 shortly."

"Thank you Dr. Burkett." Sophie said sincerely.

"We will have a nurse come and let you know once everyone is settled in their rooms. We expect everyone to make a full recovery." Dr. Cooper smiled. It was always a good day when they got to deliver good news to especially to the families of police officers who were simply trying to serve and protect.

"Thank you doctors. Is there any word on Constable Braddock?" Holleran asked.

"I'm sorry but I checked just before coming in here. He is still in surgery." Dr. Jefferson answered. "I'll make sure someone comes to speak with you as soon as he is out of surgery."

"Thank you."

With that the doctors left and people sank back into the uncomfortable chairs. All were thankful that there were no major injuries to those they loved.

Sarah Braddock sank into a chair next to her husband. Jason leaned back in his chair, wrapped his arm around his wife, and drew her to him. Sarah closed her eyes and laid her head on Jason's chest, listening to his heartbeat. There was still no word on their son. She reached up and fingered her necklace. It was the double heart necklace that Sam and Anna Marie had given her that last Mother's Day before Anna Marie passed away. As she clutched the necklace she earnestly prayed that her son's life would be spared.

* * *

**Room 300**

"I don't get why they are keeping us overnight. We have no injuries other than sore wrists. Why won't they release us?" Wordy was irritated. He just wanted to find Shelly and hold her close.

"They want to make sure there are no side effects from the sedative that Mark hit us with. We'll be able to leave tomorrow." Greg answered gently. "Think of it this way Wordy. At least we won't have to worry about visiting hours for the rest of the team since we're admitted for the night."

"That is true."

Wordy was about to say more when there was a gentle knock on the door. The person on the other side didn't wait for a response and when the door opened Wordy's smile could have split his face.

"Shell." Wordy sighed in relief. He had been looking forward to seeing his wife for two long days and now that she was here he felt like he could finally get some rest.

"Kevin." Shelly quickly made her way across the room to her husband's bed.

Wordy didn't miss the fact that Shelly looked intently at his wrists. He knew that she would take her time examining them and gently kissing his wounds. She always did and it always made him love her even more. But for now he just needed to hold her, so he did. As soon as she was close enough he reached out and pulled her to him. Breathing in her scent he finally felt like he was free of the nightmare that had been the last two days.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Shelly whispered as she held her husband tightly.

"I'm fine sweetheart. Promise." Wordy held her even tighter. "Are the girls okay?"

"Yes, I told them you were just stuck at work. It's happened before so I figured it would be a good explanation."

"In a way it was true." Wordy drew in a deep breath.

Greg watched as the husband and wife embraced and he felt a familiar ache in his chest. He missed those days, the days where he had someone waiting for him at home at the end of the day. Sadly, though, those days were over all because he kept burying himself at the bottom of a bottle.

After several long minutes Shelly finally pulled back, kissed her husband, and smiled.

"You're okay?" Shelly asked softly.

"I'm okay." Wordy whispered back before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Shelly took a deep breath before turning to Greg.

"Sorry Greg." Shelly smiled.

"You don't have to apologize Shelly." Greg offered an encouraging smile.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm just worried about the rest of the team." Greg answered honestly. "They haven't told me anything."

"I think I can help with that." Commander Holleran stated as he entered the room. He could give his Sergeant an update on his team for now and get his statement later. He knew that Shelly Wordsworth didn't need to know the details of the last two days.

* * *

**Room 304**

"Ma, I'm fine. I promise. It doesn't even hurt." Spike whined for the third time in as many minutes.

Spike's mom and Lou's sister had come to see them and had spent every moment of their time in the room asking them if they were okay, if they were in pain, what they could do to help. Both men were feeling a bit smothered, but at the same time thankful for the family that was worried for them. However, they were still waiting to hear news on their other family, the rest of Team One.

Lou knew that once they were alone in the room that he and Spike were going to have a long talk about what happened at the warehouse, how they've been treating Sam, and what to do to make things right. If they got the chance that is. They still didn't know if Sam was going to make it or not. He had suffered quite a lot at the hands of Simmons. Lou hoped with everything in him that Sam would make it, both physically and emotionally.

* * *

**Room 302**

Edward Lane was sitting staring out the window when his family walked in. Seeing Sophie and Clark almost made him forget the pain in his ribs from the beating he had received. Sophie always had a way of making him feel better at the end of the worst of days.

"Ed." Sophie quickly crossed the room. She stopped short of pulling her husband into a hug as she knew his ribs were injured.

Ed was so relieved to see Sophie that he didn't care about the pain in his ribs and pulled Sophie to him when she got close enough.

"Edward Lane, don't you ever scare me like that again!" Sophie scolded him as Ed held her tight.

"Oh Sophie, I never want to scare you like that again." Ed closed his eyes and drew in as deep a breath as he could.

"What happened to you?" She asked when she finally pulled back to look at her husband.

"Not right now." Ed said softly as his eyes turned to Clark who was standing in the doorway.

Sophie nodded slightly in understanding. Their son didn't need to know all the details. But she had a feeling Ed would need to talk about what happened later. He had that look that said he felt like he had royally screwed up and needed her to tell him how to fix it. Sophie couldn't help but wonder what Ed was beating himself up over now.

"Clark, son." Ed lifted a hand towards his son. He needed his whole family right now.

Clark swallowed the lump in his throat that was always present when his dad was in the hospital and moved to his dad's bedside.

"I'm okay Clark. I promise." Ed assured his son as he pulled Clark to him.

Clark squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he fought the tears that threatened to spill over. He didn't know why but he had a feeling that things could have ended quite differently. Clark had a gut feeling that he very well could have lost his dad over the last two days. He was never more thankful to be held by his dad than he was right this moment.

Ed knew that he had a lot to work through. He had been downright horrible to Sam ever since the rookie joined their team. He knew he had to do something to make it right, he just didn't know what. As he met his wife's gaze Ed was sure that Sophie would not only beat his ass for treating Sam the way that he had, but she would also have a good solution for how to fix it.

For now, though, he just held his wife and son close.

**…..**

* * *

**Room 306**

Jules had never been more grateful for a hot shower than she was right now. She closed her eyes as the hot water cascaded down her back. She had argued with the nurse about being able to take a shower. They didn't want her to be out of bed at the moment. But all she had had to do was explain that she just needed to wash that pervert off her. She felt dirty from where he had touched her.

Despite the steaming hot water she shivered at the thought of what the subject had said he would do to her. She could still feel his lips on her, his hand groping her. But mostly she could still feel the cold steel of the blade that he had used to torture Sam with. It had been stained with Sam's blood when Mark had cut her shirt in half and there had been a small streak left on her skin when he was done.

As Jules scrubbed herself clean her mind drifted to Sam. She had thought that she had the rookie figured out before. But now she wasn't so sure. Sam had come across as cocky, know it all, 'I can do anything', Special Forces soldier. But over the last two days she had seen a side of Sam that she wouldn't have guessed he had.

Sam had done his best to come across as unfazed by what had happened. However, she _had_ learned a thing or two from the Boss and she had seen his armor cracking near the end. The flashback had done a number on him. Then three things she had never expected to happen did.

First was when Mark was touching her. While that vile man had his hands on her she had actually had a pretty good view of Sam. The look on his face was pure murder. She hadn't thought he would care _what_ happened to her, or the rest of the team. But the look of pure rage on his face at that time had told her otherwise.

Then Sam had done something that none of them had expected. He found a way to free them even though he caused more pain for himself. How he managed to continue on and fight back with a shoulder that had been dislocated, on top of his other injuries, she had no clue. He was truly stronger than she had ever thought.

The third thing that Sam had done that had shocked her was when he took a bullet for her. She had taken many bullets before. But she had never had someone purposefully take one for her. Jules knew that she would have to spend some time working through Sam saving her life. Before she could think about it too much though the pain in her head flared up again.

Jules decided that for now she would get some much needed rest and work through her feelings about the last two days at a later time. Maybe the Boss would sit down with her and let her talk through everything that had happened.

* * *

**Private Waiting Room**

Jason Braddock was holding his sleeping wife close to him as he stared at the painting on the wall across from them. They had been in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity and yet they still had no news on Sam. It had been several hours since Sam had arrived at the hospital and all they would tell him was that Sam as still in surgery.

Waiting for news on Sam was nothing new to Jason. But this time was different. Sam had been home, in Canada, when he had received these injuries. His son was supposed to be safe here. Even being in the SRU was safer than anything Sam did in Afghanistan.

The only solace Jason had was that if Sam had not made it then they would have come to tell them already. This was a case of no news was good news. That didn't mean that Jason had to wait patiently. In fact, in any other case he would be pacing. This time though Sarah was here and needed his comfort. As he checked his watch yet again the door to the waiting room opened.

"I'm looking for a General Jason Braddock." The doctor said as he noticed the only two people in the room.

"That's me." Jason answered as he gently woke his wife awake and stood.

"Sir, my name is Doctor Jefferson. I've been in surgery with your son for the last several hours."

"Sam! How is my son?" Sarah asked, her worry clear in her voice. "Please tell me my boy is going to be okay!"


	11. Diagnosis

"Let me start by saying that your son is alive." Doctor Jefferson answered. "He is currently in recovery but we will be moving him to ICU on the 4th floor."

Jason took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Sam was alive and no matter what happened from here on out _that_ is what mattered most.

"Why don't we all have a seat." The doctor suggested.

"As I said, Sam is alive but he is in very critical condition. I don't know what all happened to him but he took quite a beating. Sam has severe abrasions on his wrists from being restrained and his right wrist sustained a severe sprain so will be kept in a brace for a while. There is also significant bruising on his entire body. There are several lacerations across his chest and arms. He also suffered a stab wound to the left side of his chest. Miraculously there was no permanent damage from the knife. We cleaned all the lacerations and had to put stitches in three of them including the stab wound to his chest."

Sarah Braddock had to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Her son had been injured before so this wasn't anything new, but that didn't make it any easier on her. She couldn't help the tears that trailed down her face.

"There are several second degree burns on his chest and back that we are treating. They should heal just fine barring any infection. He took quite a beating to his torso and as a result has some bruised, two cracked, and one broken rib. It also appears that he bit his cheek and tongue at some point. Those injuries are very minor and will heal themselves. There is some fluid on his lungs and we will be keeping a close eye on that to make sure it doesn't develop into pneumonia." Doctor Jefferson took a moment to consult his notes.

"As for his shoulder. It appears that his left shoulder was dislocated but was put back in the socket at some point. He sustained a gunshot wound to his left shoulder as well. The bullet went through his shoulder and we had to repair a small section of the bone where the bullet nicked off a small piece. We also had to do some repair to the muscles in his shoulder." Doctor Jefferson took a deep breath and looked General Braddock in the eye.

"Due to his extensive injuries suffered from severe blood loss. We've had to give him quite a lot of blood to bring his levels back up to where they need to be. I apologize for the amount of time you had to wait for news on Sam. He was in very critical condition when he arrived and we lost him twice on the operating table. We were able to get him back both times but it obviously slowed down our work."

Sarah gasped. Her son had almost died on the operating table. She buried her head in Jason's shoulder as she cried.

"Will he make it?" Jason asked after a long moment. "Are his injuries going to end his career?"

"Your son is a very strong and healthy young man. I am not going to lie. His recovery will be long and hard. But, with the right support system I am optimistic that he will make a full recovery." Doctor Jefferson answered.

Just as the doctor was standing to leave Team Two of the SRU entered the waiting room with Commander Holleran close behind. Holleran noted the doctors presence and knew they Braddocks surely had just received an update on Sam.

"Doctor Jefferson." Jason stopped the doctor just as he was about to leave the waiting room. "May I have a word with you in private please?"

"Of course, this way." The two men stepped out of the waiting room to a quiet corner of the hallway.

"What can I do for you General?"

"First, my name's Jason when I'm not in uniform." Jason explained. "Second, my son spent several years in the Army. He served two tours in Afghanistan on one of the top teams in JTF2. He has endured things that would destroy most men."

"I did see the extensive scarring." Doctor Jefferson commented.

"I am telling you this to say that you need to be very cautious when he starts to wake. You can't restrain him in any way. You can't startle him. He is trained to react with deadly force and considering his history that is a very good possibility." Jason explained. He hated that he had to share this about his son, but he also had to keep Sam's best interest at heart.

"Does your son suffer from PTSD?" Doctor Jefferson had to know.

"No. Not PTSD. However, he has had flashbacks before when injured. I'm just telling you to be cautious. I don't want anyone on your staff injured because my son reacted on instinct."

"I will inform the head of nursing. We will take good care of your son Jason."

"Thank you doctor."

"Of course. I will have a nurse come get you when he is moved to his room in ICU." The men shook hands.

"Will he be allowed visitors? I know his team will want to see him."

"You and your wife will be given unrestricted access to his room considering the circumstances. You can have two visitors besides yourselves in the room at a time but only for very short periods of time. We will keep him pretty sedated to help his body recover." Doctor Jefferson answered.

"Thank you. We will wait here until we can see him." Jason then turned to return to the waiting room, and to hold his wife close.

When Jason reentered the waiting room he went directly to his wife.

"Jason, is Sam going to be alright?" Sarah asked, extremely worried.

"I don't know sweetheart. Doctor Jefferson seems to think that Sam can make a full recovery, but it's not going to be easy for him." Jason answered honestly. He knew his son was strong, very strong, but he couldn't help but wonder if this would be the time that Sam wouldn't make a full recovery. "We just have to make sure we are there for him."

"Do you think he'll let us?" Sarah asked quietly.

"I don't know honey. But we have to try." Jason closed his eyes and kissed her head. "We can never give up trying."

The Braddocks held each other for a long moment before Sarah finally pulled back.

"I should call Natalie. She will want to know what's going on even if she can't come."

"While you talk to her I'm going to go talk to Commander Holleran and update him on Sam's status. I'll be right here if you need me!" Jason pulled her into a hug one more time before turning to talk to Holleran.

Jason and Holleran spent several minutes in conversation. As Jason passed on Sam's status to the commander and Team Two he could see that everyone was worried about his son, and whether or not Sam would make it back to the SRU. Jason assured them that Doctor Jefferson was extremely optimistic about Sam's recovery and return to work. He also told them that he knew Sam would do everything in his power to return as soon as possible.

Once Jason finished updating them on Sam's status he asked about the status of Team One. He knew that Sam would be worried about his team when he awoke and he wanted to be sure he had good news for his son.

Thirty minutes later Commander Holleran was just getting up to go update Greg on Sam's status when Doctor Cooper came back in.

"Commander Holleran, may I have a word?" Doctor Cooper asked.

"Of course, is everything alright?" Holleran asked, suddenly concerned for his team.

"Your Constables are just fine Commander. I was actually just coming in to let you know that I'm going to have to go ahead and discharge Constables Wordsworth and Parker. We had several people come in due to an automobile accident and we need their room. I'm assuming that they will be around for a while regardless of the fact that they can go home so I will be able to update them on their bloodwork once it comes back." Doctor Cooper smiled. "I have no concerns for them at this time but they have been told to ask for me should they feel anything is off."

"Thank you for the update Doctor. I am sure neither of them will be leaving at least until they can see their teammate so they will be around for several hours if not all night." Holleran smiled back. "I'll make sure they stay in touch with you until their bloodwork comes back clear."

"Thank you Commander. Now if you'll excuse me our ER is about to be very busy once again." Doctor Cooper then left the room.

Holleran took a deep breath. He wasn't looking forward to updating Team One on Sam's status seeing how bad he was injured. But, with Parker and Wordsworth being released maybe he would only have to repeat himself a couple of times instead of several.

* * *

**Room 302**

It had been ten minutes since Greg and Wordy had signed their discharge papers. As suspected they weren't planning on leaving the hospital any time soon. Holleran had spoken with Greg privately about Sam's status and Greg had asked that he be allowed to tell the Team on his own. His argument was that it would go over better coming from him. What he _didn't_ say was that he expected a few emotional outbursts during the discussion that he didn't think Holleran needed to hear. Thankfully the family members understood the need for the team to meet for a few minutes and had left to grab some food.

It had taken a good deal of his negotiation skills but Greg had talked the nurses into allowing his Team to gather together in Ed's room. He was the one with the most extensive injuries besides Sam so it just made sense for them all to come to him. Plus, Ed had a room to himself at the moment so there was plenty of room.

As the team had slowly gathered no one spoke. They knew the time would come, and very soon, that they would need to discuss what had happened. However, as in typical Team One fashion, they wanted to do it together.

Jules was the last to arrive and as she took the last seat in the room she could feel everyone's eyes on her. She knew the hand shaped bruising on her neck was quite dark and that the guys were probably all beating themselves up over the way she got hurt. The team would need to talk about what happened, and she knew that things would get heated when her assault came up. But, for now, she was just glad that they were all here, safe, and going to be well soon. It also didn't hurt that Team Two had brought all of their go bags so they could change. She almost felt human in her own clothes, even though it had taken more negotiation on her part.

"I can't believe they let us all in here at the same time." Spike commented as he adjusted himself in the wheelchair they insisted on he and Lou using.

"Boss has mad negotiating skills." Jules said softly as she smiled and winked at Greg.

"First, how is everyone?" Greg asked as he looked around the room.

He got varying answers but everyone essentially said that they were good.

"Good. I got us together because I just got word on Sam's status and wanted us to be together when I shared how he is doing." Greg took a deep breath before continuing. "You know he took a pretty good beating over the last two days. His injuries are pretty extensive. They lost him twice on the operating table."

Gasps were heard around the room and Greg took a moment to let the news sink in.

"Now, he _is_ very badly injured. But the doctors are hopeful that he can make a full recovery and return to the team in the future."

"But he's alive?" Jules asked. She would never forgive herself if he died from taking a bullet meant for her.

"He is alive."

"So what are his injuries?" Lou asked, worried for his teammate.

"Well, to start off with he has…"

Suddenly the door to the room burst open and Inspector Stanton strode in with two other officers, effectively making the already full room crowded.

"No one is to say another word until I have statements from all officers involved." Stanton stated sternly.

"Inspector, I was just updating the team on one of our own, Constable Braddock." Greg started to argue.

"That will have to wait. Statements are to be given immediately, before anyone says another word about what transpired over the last two days." Stanton then turned to the officers that accompanied him. "Officers, if you will escort Constables Young and Scarlatti back to their rooms."

Ed was seething. The Inspector never had been the kindest of people but this was just out of line. He was about to start yelling at the man to let Greg speak when the other man caught his eye and gave him a look that said to let it go.

Greg knew that although the team was seething at this in the long run it would be better. They would get the statements out of the way then be free to debrief like they needed to. Even though he wanted to complain as he followed Inspector Stanton out of Ed's room he knew it was what was best for the team, even if they didn't like it.

* * *

**Room 402**

Jason took a deep breath as he stopped just outside Sam's room, his arm around his wife next to him. He could feel how tense Sarah was. His wife always hated when one of her children wasn't well, as did he. Unfortunately they had too much experience with Sam being unwell. Sam had been injured more times in his career than Jason cared to admit.

From where they stood they could see several of the monitors that were hooked up to Sam, as well as the IV pole that had a myriad of antibiotics, blood, and pain meds. He took a moment to prepare himself to see his son's battered and bruised body.

Opening the door slowly Jason took in the sight of his son in the hospital bed. There were several wires between Sam and the monitors on the wall. He slowly approached Sam's bed, Sarah close to his side. He heard the sharp intake of breath from his wife as she took in the sight of their son.

Sam lay stone still on the bed. There was an oxygen mask on his face that sported colorful bruising. As Jason's gazed traveled down Sam's body he saw the cuts that were bandaged on Sam's chest. He saw the burns, the bruises, the wrist brace, and the large bandage on Sam's left shoulder where he had sustained a gunshot wound. Jason was very thankful that they hadn't restrained Sam in any way. Waking to restraints would surely send Sam into a flashback of epic proportions and he did _not_ want his son to go through that.

"Sammy." Sarah whispered as she gently took Sam's right hand into hers.

She was very careful of the brace on his wrist as she gently brought his hand to her cheek and closed her eyes. "Sammy, my beautiful boy. Please come back to us." She then gently kissed his hand before lowering it back to the bed.

Jason swallowed the emotions that welled up within him at the sight of his son so badly injured yet again. He vowed then and there that not only would he do everything in his power to help Sam recover, but he would be sure that anyone involved with his son's torture would be brought swiftly to justice.

He had already put the wheels in motion. The Army had not only taken control of the scene and was processing all of the evidence but Mark's men were in military custody as well. Jason knew the motivation for Mark's capture and torture of Sam. However, due to Sam's previous beyond top secret clearance and knowledge Jason wanted to make sure that there weren't other motives driving the men.

Jason guided Sarah into one of the chairs in the room and placed his hands on her shoulders. As he listened to Sam's heartbeat on the monitor he took a few deep, calming breaths.

Tears streamed unbidden down his face as he whispered quietly to his unconscious son. "We're here for you my boy. We love you very much and will be here for you every step of your road to recovery. I love you son!"


	12. Pompous Ass

Greg could still feel the daggers that Ed was shooting at Inspector Stanton as they exited the hospital room. He was none too pleased with the man but he knew that the sooner they got the interviews out of the way the sooner the team could be together and process what had transpired over the last two days.

"Inspector, how long will this take?" Greg asked as they headed towards the elevators.

"As long as it takes. The interviews are scheduled to start at nine tomorrow morning." Inspector Stanton stated as he pushed the button to call the elevator.

Greg froze mid step. "Tomorrow morning? You mean to tell me that I can't even update my team on Sam's injuries until the interviews are over, and you can't even be bothered to schedule them immediately? Sam is  _family_ , my team deserves to hear how he's doing."

"It is not your place to tell me how to do my job,  _Sergeant_. I am the inspector!  _I and I alone_  choose when the interviews will be conducted. Am I understood?"

"Actually, you're wrong."

Greg and Stanton both turned their gaze to the new voice. Before them stood General Braddock, wearing a look that could kill, and an Army Colonel.

"And who might you be?" Stanton asked as he tilted his chin up to display his authority.

"This is…" Jason started to explain but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

The colonel gave a slight shake of his head before turning back to the officers. "Colonel Andrew Campbell, JAG. I am assuming control of this investigation."

"You have no authority. This is a police matter." Stanton scoffed.

"Actually this is a matter of national security." Campbell took a half step forward, invading Inspector Stanton's personal space. "The subject was an active duty Army Training Officer. He was granted Top Secret clearance in order to perform his duties. He abducted a former Special Forces Soldier with a security clearance above his. The subject then tortured the former soldier in front of civilians. As both men, abductor, and abductee held such high clearance, and the reason for the abduction and subsequent torture, I have been ordered to conduct this investigation."

"By whose authority?" Stanton's brows furrowed as he unconsciously took a half step back.

Campbell moved forward another step, coming nose to nose with the arrogant inspector. "The authority of the Chief of Defense Staff,  _Sir._ "

Jason barely contained the smirk that came forth at the look on Stanton's face. No one messed with the Chief's authority.

"Very well. I expect to be kept appraised of the investigation."

"No." With that Campbell stepped around Stanton and took three steps towards Ed's room before turning back. "General, Sergeant, if you would come with me. Inspector, your services are no longer needed here."

Greg bit his lip to hide his amusement as he turned to go back to his team. General Jason Braddock fell into step beside him. They approached Ed's room just as Spike and Lou were being wheeled out.

"Officers, you are dismissed. Please return Constables Scarlatti and Young to Constable Lane's room and take your leave." Campbell spoke with a tone of authority.

"I'm sorry, we don't take our orders from the Army." One of the officers stated with a smirk.

"This is no longer a Police investigation, it's an Army JAG investigation. If you don't want to be charged in a military court with obstructing a military investigation, and end up in Club Ed, then I suggest you return those men immediately and be on your way."

Spike's brows shot upwards as his and Lou's chairs were immediately returned to Ed's room to the shock of the rest of the team inside. All had heard the officers being dismissed. As the uniforms quickly made themselves scares they were joined in Ed's room by Greg, the general, and an Army colonel.

"Hello constables, my name is Colonel Andrew Campbell, but my friends call me Drew. I have officially taken over the investigation into the circumstances of the last two days. I will be conducting your debrief." Campbell softened his tone as he took in the weary officers gathered in the room. He could see their concern clear as day in their eyes. "I will be debriefing each of you individually. However, I will not keep you from your team, or from speaking to one another. I only ask that you refrain from discussing the details of the last two days until your interview has been conducted. Those interviews will begin momentarily. Before we begin though, are there any questions?"

"Sir, can those officers  _really_  be tried in a military court and sent to Club Ed?" Spike asked, curiosity and amusement battling for prominence on his face.

"No. But they don't need to know that." Campbell did allow himself to smile then.

"Why is the Army taking over the investigation?" Ed asked as he shifted in his hospital bed.

"Eddie, both Sam and Simmons were Army. National Security." Greg gently explained.

"Oh…" Jules whispered as her eyes went wide. She had never even considered that aspect of things.

"I want you all to know that I do have Constable Braddock's best interest in mind, and that is to keep him from reliving this experience as much as possible. If I can I would like to obtain all the details from you. Then I will only need him to fill in the blanks."

"Why are you so interested in Sam's well-being?" Wordy queried. Not that he was opposed to the idea, but he saw the concern the colonel had for Sam. That wasn't something a normal lawyer developed for their client before even meeting them.

"I have a vested interest in Sam," Campbell stated simply, not sure if he should explain or not.

"Drew is the JAG that investigated Matt's death." Jason expounded on the explanation.

"Wait, is that even allowed?" Lou wondered as he gripped the handles of his wheelchair.

"Yes. Actually, it is preferred. I already know the circumstances around Simmon's death. It would be quite a challenge to bring another JAG officer, with the required clearance, up to speed in the short amount of time we had."

"He'll take good care of you all. Are there any more questions?" Jason asked, he was itching to get back to Sam but had wanted to ensure Team One was introduced to Campbell, and that there wouldn't be any issues with the Army taking over the investigation.

"Just one." Greg turned to Campbell.

"Sergeant?" Campbell was curious as to what other questions this team could come up with.

"When do we start the interviews?"

"Just as soon as you brief your team on Constable Braddock's condition." Campbell smiled seeing the look of relief on everyone's faces. "I'll just wait outside. I would like to start my interview with you Sergeant Parker. Then I will speak with Constable Wordsworth, Constable Scarlatti, Constable Young, Constable Callaghan, and then finally Constable Lane. In that order."

"Why that specific order?" Spike wanted to get his interview over with sooner rather than later.

"Because Wordsworth and Parker have no injuries requiring a hospital stay. I want to interview in that order to allow those with the more severe injuries to be able to rest before being put through their interview. Your health is just as important as this investigation. I will  _not_  put you all at risk just to get your statements."

"Thank you, Sir." Greg was genuinely happy the man thought the way he did. The interviews would be grueling. His team could use the rest to gain their strength before being put through the stress of debriefing.

"I'll be waiting outside, Sergeant Parker. Once you are done briefing your team we will conduct our interview. I have secured a conference room here at the hospital so you won't have to go far." Campbell walked out behind General Braddock, but paused at the door and turned back to the team. "Take your time, Sergeant Parker. I can wait."

With that, the colonel left and quietly closed the door behind him. Team One stared at the closed door, speechless, for a long moment.

* * *

"I think that went well. Don't you, Drew?" Jason chuckled as he slipped his hands into his pockets and drew in a deep breath.

"I will forever cherish the look of astonishment on Inspector Stanton's face when I told him I would not be keeping him updated on the investigation." Drew laughed along with his long-time friend.

"You did say you were going to be keeping Commander Holleran in the loop though, right?"

"Oh yes, he was not a pompous ass to me. Him I don't mind keeping informed."

"I think I saw a coffee machine down the hall. What do you say we grab a cup while we wait? They could be a while."

"Coffee sounds splendid."

The two friends meandered down the hall and spoke softly as they caught up on life. Jason was relieved that Drew had been the one to pull this case. Not that he hadn't pleaded and begged for all he was worth. But he wouldn't admit that to anyone, not even his wife.

Drew breathed in the calming scent of freshly brewed coffee. He was thrilled he had been available to take Sam's case. Memoires of the broken, young soldier sitting across the table from him haunted him to this day. When Sam killed Matt a piece of Sam died that day too. As Drew sipped his coffee he hoped that he would be able to make this as painless as possible, for everyone involved.

No soldier deserved to be put through what young Sam Braddock had endured in his life.

* * *

"Whoa." Spike breathed as he smiled hugely and his eyes remained wide.

"You can say that again." Lou agreed as he slowly shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs that had surely invaded.

"Team, we need to focus. These interviews need to be honest, and as detailed as possible. Don't leave anything out." Greg rubbed a hand across his head as he drew in a calming breath. "It's not going to be easy for any of us, but we still have a job to do here."

"Copy." All responded from their places around the room.

"So, how is Sam?" Ed finally broke the silence that had descended in the room.

"Oh, so  _now_  you suddenly care?" Lou turned an icy gaze to his Team Leader.

"Whoa, Lou, where did all this hostility come from?" Spike asked as he placed a hand on Lou's arm.

Lou shook Spike's hand off and glared at him too. "You're no better. You, both of you, were such mean bastards to Sam the whole time we were there. You blamed him for something that wasn't his fault. He  _protected you_! And still, you treated him like  _he_  was the subject!"

"Lou…"

"No, Boss. They were in the wrong, Jules too." Lou's gaze turned on Jules then. "Why couldn't you all just support him? Why did you have to hurt him like that?"

"Stop!" Greg ordered.

The room became quiet once more as icy stares were thrown across the room.

"We were told  _not_  to discuss what happened over the last two days until  _after_  our interviews are over. Now, I expect you all to  _follow_  those orders!" Greg pinned each team member with a glare until he received a nod of agreement from each of them. "Good, now that that's been said… Sam's not doing so well."

"He's alive right?" Wordy's brows furrowed in concern.

"Yes, he's alive. But barely." Greg lowered himself to the only empty seat in the room and dropped his head into his hands. He sat like that for a long minute as he processed things and decided on the best way to share the news with the team. "He's suffered quite a lot of injuries."

"We know, Greg. We were there." Ed kept his gaze fixated on his boss, his friend.

"Yeah, we were, weren't we?" Looking up Greg met Ed's gaze. "Abrasions from the restraints, his right wrist is sprained, extensive bruising, lacerations and a stab wound, burns, his ribs are bruised, cracked, and one broken, there is fluid in his lungs, and the bullet to his left shoulder damaged the bone."

"No." Jules breathed as a hand flew to her mouth.

"Is he… are they ... what do … Greg?" Ed stumbled over his words.  _That list of injuries, they could be career ending._  Ed thought as he saw the concern, fear, and guilt in Greg's eyes.

"They are hopeful that he will make a full recovery. But it's not going to be easy. His injuries are pretty severe. There is no telling if or when he will make it back to the SRU. To Team One." Greg sighed as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. A single tear escaped as he wondered if Sam would ever join them on Team One again.  _Is Sam's career as an officer officially over?_


	13. Debrief

**Ed's Hospital Room**

The room descended into silence after Greg explained all of Sam's injuries. Each member of Team One knew Sam endured a lot, but to listen to the extent of his injuries was a whole different matter. As each was lost in their thoughts the door to the hospital room opening startled more than a couple of them. Three doctors, Harrison, Burkett, and Cooper entered carrying clipboards.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have the results of the blood tests back for you all," Dr. Burkett explained.

"Please, come in. I apologize, it's a little crowded in here." Greg stood and motioned for the doctors to join them.

"Thank you, Greg, but you can keep your seat." Dr. Cooper smile as he stood in the doorway. "We have the toxicology results back. Normally, we can only release results to their respective owners, but given to unusual circumstances, we are willing to release all results to this group if given consent. If any dissent, we will abide by the written policy, is that understood?"

The team nodded affirmative. Each member was given a form to release or withhold results, initial and give back to their respective doctor. When all the forms were back, both the doctors and team let out the breaths each seemed to be holding. The decision was unanimous, they would hear them as a group…more as a family. A familial unit by choice able to help those members requiring assistance.

"The toxicological results for Parker, Wordsworth, Young, Scarlatti, and Callaghan are negative. The sedative given has cleared your system and is no longer detectable. We do not expect you to experience any additional problems."

"That's great news. Thank you." Wordy sighed in relief. He had been afraid he'd have to be on the lookout for unwanted side effects.

All attention shifted to the Constable whose name was not called, his tone turned more serious. "As for you, Constable Lane..."

"Just Ed, please." Ed grew worried at the look which flashed across the doctor's face.

"Ed, unfortunately, the preliminary results came back positive and further testing was required." Dr. Burkett consulted his notes to ensure he gave the right information. "It seems in addition to the sedative, you received a drug which is known to affect thought processes and cause mood swings. This drug is largely untested, so we don't know how long it will remain in your system, or how long you will continue to experience pharmacological effects. We will monitor you closely and repeat testing in a couple of hours to see if it has cleared your system."

"He drugged me?" Ed's brows furrowed. As he thought back over their captivity, he realized he hadn't felt quite right, but attributed it to the sedative, but now he realized he had been manipulated. The thought angered him, and if he were being honest with himself, it scared him too.

"My suggestion now is you all get some rest. You've been through a lot, and your bodies need time to recover," Dr. Burkett said gently. "If there are no concerns at this time, please return to your rooms."

"Thank you, doctor. We all must debrief anyway so its best everyone rest until it's their turn," Greg agreed as he glanced pointedly at each member of his team. "Go rest. That's an order."

All three doctors left, and the team trickled out behind them. None too pleased about being sent back to their rooms, but also knowing they needed their rest. Debrief would not be easy, or pretty.

"Do you want me to stay, Ed?" Wordy asked as the room cleared.

"No."

"Are you sure? You can talk to me you know." Wordy was concerned for his friend. He perceived a myriad of emotions playing across Ed's face.

"I'm sure. I need to be alone to work through the last few days is all." Ed didn't try to hide his feelings from Wordy. He knew he needed to talk about things. He just didn't want to now.

"Ed?" Greg turned his concerned gaze to the other man at the tone of Ed's voice.

"Just go, Greg. You need to debrief. I need some space."

"Alright. If you need anything, anything at all, please speak up," Greg pleaded. He understood the internal war already being waged in Ed.

"I'll be around if you need me while Greg is busy," Wordy explained as he moved to the door with Greg.

Ed simply nodded, already lost in his thoughts.

* * *

**Outside Ed's Hospital Room**

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Wordy asked as both men gazed at Ed's closed door.

"I don't know, Wordy. The news shook him up. He's used to being in complete control, of the team, of himself. Mark took his control away, not just with the drug but with the chains too."

"Why do you think Mark did it?" Wordy wondered aloud.

"I can't speak for the man, and he can't speak for himself. But, if I were to make a guess I'd say it's because Ed is the Team Leader. Team One takes their cues from Ed and me. You compromise the thought process of one, the rest of the team is sure to follow," Greg speculated. However, he knew his mental abilities weren't at their best at the moment. He had been compromised in a way, just as the rest of them.

"I guess I've never thought about it that way. You're right though. We all rely on the both of you. When one of you is off your game, we all are off." Wordy drew in a deep breath. "I'm going to stay close in case Ed needs me. Let me know when you're done."

"Will do." Greg put a hand on Wordy's shoulder. "Hang in there. We'll all get through this."

"I know, Boss. I'm only worried about the toll this has taken on the team. Not just physically either."

"I understand what you mean." With that, Greg turned to meet Colonel Campbell.

Once in the lift, Greg went over what Wordy shared with him. He also worried about his team. They relied on him and Ed for leadership through the situation, and they both failed. Himself the most. Although, when he thought about it further, he realized they failed long before the abduction.

Ed and Greg let the team down when Sam first joined. None of them were pleased with how Sam landed on their team, and they allowed their feelings on the matter to show. The rest took their cue from them, and as a result, all treated Sam rather badly. His thoughts from their time with Mark resurfaced,  _Are we too late to change towards Sam? Will Sam recover from the physical and emotional wounds?_

Those thoughts, however, would have to wait until a later time to be evaluated. Time to face the Colonel and General and a painful debrief.

* * *

**Hospital Conference Room**

"Sergeant Parker, have a seat." Colonel Campbell motioned to one of the chairs at the table.

Greg surveyed the room as he took his seat, relieved to see refreshments available. He hadn't had anything to eat in a while, and hospital food was not appetizing.

"Help yourself to whatever you would like." Jason Braddock gestured to the assortment of food and beverages.

"Thank you." Greg grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water. It pained him knowing Sam's father would hear in detail everything his son suffered.

"Feel free to eat first. Then we can get started." Colonel Campbell smiled softly.

"How is your team, Sergeant?" Jason Braddock asked as he leaned back in his chair before taking a drink of water.

"They are doing well. Mostly minor injuries," Greg answered truthfully. "Ed's drug cocktail differed from ours. His was spiked with an additional drug which impaired him mentally, but the doctors are sure it will be out of his system soon."

"Impaired him? How?" Jason leaned forward and put his elbows on the table.

"He was given something which apparently causes mood swings and such. The doctors don't know much about it so will be keeping him under close observation." Greg noted Colonel Campbell making notes.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I do hope he recovers quickly."

"Thank you, General."

"Please, call me Jason."

"How is Sam doing?"

"Samuel is resting at the moment. They will be moving him to ICU shortly. His mother is with him." What Jason didn't say spoke volumes, if not for the call of duty, he would be with his son as well.

Noting Sergeant Parker was almost finished eating, Drew arranged his list of questions and his notepad to begin. He already noted the addition to Constable Lane's physical status, but now it was time to get down to business.

"So, where do we begin?" Greg asked after finishing off the last of his sandwich.

Turning on the recorder Drew asked his first question. "Let's start at the beginning. Do you remember anything about your abduction?"

Greg related the events in the sequence they occurred outside the Goose, clearly remembering where his thoughts had been. He had been so introspective he had barely been aware of the discussion between the members of his team. Hearing Sam's words to Ed that morning had thrown Greg for a loop.

"So when you woke up in the warehouse your entire team, minus Sam, was present. Correct?" Campbell clarified.

"Yes, sir. He was brought in shortly after the team gained consciousness."

"What happened next?"

"Mark brought in a picture."

"Is this the picture?" Campbell showed Greg a picture from the warehouse showing what the investigative team had found.

"Yes, that's the one."

"What happened after this photo was placed in the room?"

Greg went on to share the monologue from Mark, and the supplemental beating Sam received. He didn't miss the slight grimace on General Braddock's face when he related Mark hoped Sam would give up on life. He knew the revelation deeply hurt Sam's father.

What Greg didn't share was the fact that he, Ed, and Wordy had been present when the picture was taken. That wasn't something which was pertinent to the conversation, and Mark wouldn't have known anyway. However, that didn't stop Greg from beating himself up over not remembering he had met Sam and Matt before. When he thought of the night at the bar when they paid for Sam's and Matt's drinks, and then about how they mistreated Sam, Greg was surprised Sam hadn't left the team or filed a complaint with Commander Holleran. Team One had shown Sam two completely different sides. The most recent being nothing like the team Greg knew and loved. They had so much to make up for.

"While they beat Ed with the bat, did Mark try to extract any information from Sam?" Campbell hated having to ask this question. However, it was the whole reason he was here, to ensure no top secret information leaked.

"No. In fact, not once was Sam asked for information. Mark made it clear he simply wanted Sam to suffer before being killed."

"What was Sam's demeanor before and during Ed's beating?"

"He was ... determined. He shared with us that Mark was an instructor for Special Forces, that he taught the soldiers how to withstand torture. It was then I knew Mark would be relentless in his torture." Greg thought back to the change he perceived in Sam right before Ed's beating began. "It was evident Sam knew what Mark was capable of doing. It was as though he shifted into soldier mode so to speak.

When they finished beating Ed, Mark encouraged us to lay into Sam verbally. To accuse him of being the reason we were taken."

"Did you?"

"No. We knew that although Sam killed Mark's brother in a terrible accident, it wasn't Sam's fault we were there. Grief drove Mark. I firmly believe he would have taken and tortured Sam regardless of whether or not he was on Team One."

"Can you tell me what happened next?"

Greg went on to describe the electric torture Spike, Lou, and Sam endured. While sharing the facts of the torture, he couldn't help but remember his surprise at Sam's apparent disregard for Spike and Lou, as well as his complete silence during the electric shocks. Having experienced a Taser before Greg knew how painful it was for electricity to be coursing through a person's body. How he wanted to scream long and loud at the simple shock of the Taser. And yet, Sam remained silent for the duration of his torture via cattle prods. The only sound Sam emitted was towards the end. In the quiet moments, Greg could still hear Sam's blood-curdling scream.

"He let Constable Callaghan tend to everyone?" Campbell asked with brows furrowed.

"Yes. He stated that he didn't want anyone to die yet."

"But you think differently?"

"Yes and no. I do believe Mark intended to keep us alive longer to keep Sam emotionally off-centered. If any of the wounds were to become infected, sepsis could have been an issue. But, ultimately it would have become another part of Sam's emotional torture, the loss of another teammate. He wanted us to think there was a reprieve from the torture only to continue upon return."

"Did the torture continue?"

"Yes, after Jules was returned to her restraints the temperature in the room dropped. Shortly after explosions began to play over a loudspeaker."

"Do you have any indication of how long that lasted?"

"Eighteen hours." Greg closed his eyes a moment as he drew in a deep breath. That had been some of the longest hours ever. The story Sam shared with them after broke his heart.

"You seem certain of your answer."

"Sam shared with us afterward that it was a recording of a mission he had been on with Matt." Greg saw the concerned expression pass between the general and the colonel. "The recording only contained the sounds of gunfire and explosions. According to Sam the communications was scrubbed off. "

Jason Braddock visibly relaxed. Most of the missions Matt and Sam went on were top secret. If it was the mission he suspected, then there were no issues, but he had to ask to be sure.

"Did Samuel give any indication of which mission it was? Did he give any details?"

Turning to Sam's father Greg noted the concern in the other man's blue eyes. "He indicated it was a mission he went on after assisting with a US mission. He shared that they volunteered to help rescue a unit which had been cut off and surrounded by insurgents. They went in with a helicopter, helped extract to pilots, then went on foot to cover the unit until they could be rescued. Sam explained on that mission Matt nearly died."

Jason let out a slow breath. There was no breach. None of the information Sam shared was classified.

"Please continue, what happened next?"

Greg visibly cringed. He went on to share how Mark forced water down Sam's throat and how it ultimately caused Sam to vomit, and the subsequent knife torture. His heart raced, and anger boiled as he related how Mark had begun to assault Jules. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to squeeze the life out of Mark with his bare hands. Jules was like the daughter he never had and the fact Mark touched her made him beyond furious. He felt so useless and a failure.

"As he assaulted her, one of the other men approached him and shared with him that General Braddock was on the line." Greg took a long drink of his water.

"That gives us a time stamp there." Campbell checked his notes and stated the date and time of the call for the recording.

"What happened between the phone call and when SRU's Team Two arrived?"

He couldn't help but smile. Sam escaping the chains surprised all of them. Where Sam found the strength to climb the chains after all the torture and being stabbed Greg would never know. He was just thankful the rookie managed to free himself.

Colonel Campbell and General Braddock could hear the pride evident in Greg's voice as he related how Sam escaped, freed the team, and how they took out all of Mark's men.

"From that point, we have the transcript from Team Two's call which fills in the rest of the gaps. Do you have anything else you want to add?" Campbell lay his pencil down and offered a small smile to Parker. The sergeant did a fantastic job of relating the details.

"Just know during the entire time Sam was not asked one question. He drew upon his training to withstand the pain inflicted on him, not just physically but emotionally as well. Sam Braddock is a fine officer, a fine man. No one could have experienced what he did and remained as silent and determined as Sam."

The men sat in silence for a long moment. Greg attempted to lock away the emotions that retelling the events brought forth. He felt guilty for how they had mistreated Sam, angry at how Mark had treated his family, concern for his team. In his head he knew it wasn't his fault they were taken, it wasn't any of their faults, but knowing in his head and believing it in his heart were two completely different things. He had a lot of thinking to do to work through this experience.

Colonel Campbell knew Sam would not have shared any sensitive information. Despite what the young man endured Sam possessed a deep sense of duty to country. This investigation was only a formality. The abduction also solidified in his mind he made the right decision previously. Sam hadn't meant to kill his best friend any more than he offered up his team to be tortured. Sam Braddock is an honorable man, just like his father.

General Jason Braddock struggled with mixed emotions. Deeply saddened by what his son went through. No one deserved the treatment Sam received at the hands of Mark. Jason also worried about his son, wondering if Sam would make a full recovery. Not to mention the intense pride which stirred in his heart. He knew his son was skilled, but not the full extent apparently. The fact Sam barely made a sound while being brutally tortured ... not many would be able to do that.

"Well, I think this concludes the interview. If you remember anything else, please don't hesitate to give me a call." Colonel Campbell stood and handed Greg a business card.

"I will." Greg took the card and shook the man's hand.

"If you would let Constable Wordsworth know we will be ready for him in fifteen minutes we would appreciate it."

"Of course." Greg strode out slower than normal, drained, both physically and emotionally. However, his team needed him, so Greg took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and went to get Wordy.


End file.
